Forest Animals in the Spring!

By Kellen (grade 4)

It’s that time of year when the birds, bugs, and some animals are having babies. But why now? Why are so many creatures being born at the same time? Spring is the best time for babies to enter the world. The birds and bugs lay their eggs based on the temperature and what is happening in the weather. The weather is warmer and drier. Birds try to time when their eggs hatch, so their hatchlings will have lots of baby and juvenile insects to eat. Did you know that most birds come back to use the same nest most years? What baby animals and birds have you seen? I've seen the baby golden eagles hatching now in Sisters on the golden eagle cam. 

Trout Season Opening

By Jo Jo (grade 4)

Oregon has many rivers, which are available for trout fishing. Some are open all year, many are closed for a portion of the year to allow the trout to spawn and populate. The Oregon rivers closed are opening up, so soon you can fish in all rivers. 

There are usually a lot of people on the popular rivers opening day. On opening day, you can fish almost anywhere you want where the rest of the year you can only fish part or some of the rivers in specific parts because it is only open for that amount of time. When the whole river is open that is the best time to go fishing because that is when you can go to areas that were closed during the winter but are now open during the  spring. Winter is the time of year to start getting your fishing gear ready. 

Opening day in Spring is when you can go to the best places to fish. Still there are a lot of regulations on fishing, such as only useing on some rivers artificial flies and no lures. It is still really fun because you get to catch fish. Also native runs start to enter the rivers about this time of year. This is when the fishing is going to get really good because that is when the fish start to come up the river to start feeding on the flies and other bugs. When the weather warms in spring and summer, insects start to hatch and lay eggs. That is when there will be a lot of fishermen because that is when the fish will start to bite and fishermen will start to crowd the rivers.

I live near and fish on the Metolius river. It is one of the most famous rivers in Oregon and many fisherman know this river from around the world. This river is open all year in some parts and open in other parts starting on “opening day.” I hope you can enjoy it as much as I do.

Bull trout migrating to spawn in a
tributary of the Metolius
(http://www.hcn.org/issues/47.10/a-bull-trout-
reintroduction-in-oregon-proves-whats-possible)

Hiking Upstream

By Ilya (grade 7)

On Friday the 14 of April, Black Butte School set on an adventure. They saw flowers, trees, birds, and beasts. They went through meadows and forests until we were back at school. We experienced nest building, drew our findings, and experienced “storms”.

Our hike began with walking, lots of walking. We talked and looked at many plants. We saw birds and rare flowers, like the Trilium. After a while we came to a stop to play a game. We were to build nests with our “beak” (our fingers taped together) it took us a while and there were lots of sticks being rushed around the clearing. After that we looked at each others' nest. During this time Ace found a real nest!

After that we did a silent hike until lunch. It was very fun to hear the birds and look at plants with no distractions. At lunch we ate and were very loud. Some people were running around and yelling while others ate calmly. I even had water spilled on me.

The hike resumed once everyone was done. we walked for a while talking and having fun. Mr.Sharp showed us some “squirrel cafeterias” where they ate pinecones. When we stopped it was to draw plants. Some people drew stuff along the river while other went farther out.

BBS had an educational trip filled with fun and wondrous sights. We traveled for nearly six hours and at the end we were very tired of learning and walking.

Beard Gone!

Mr. Sharp without a beard!

By Rope (grade 4)

Mr. Sharp shaved his mind blowing beard off! On the 1st day, it was weird and some of the kids thought that Mr. Sharp was someone else with his beard gone. “He look different,” Lily said. On the 2nd day, we were excited about it. “I thought it was cool,” Maddie said. Then we knew it was Mr. Sharp without his beard. On the 3rd day, all of us got used to Mr. Sharp without his beard. We also thought that it was really sharp. And that's what we thought of Mr. Sharp with his mind blowing beard off.

Save the Earth!

By Shane (grade 5)

Earth Day gives us a chance to be aware of protecting our planet. We need our planet to survive. Our planet is special and one of a kind and so are we. We can conserve energy by not using our cars and using electric cars instead. We can recycle and reuse items. We can have more recycle bins than trash bins. We can refuse to use plastic straws, utensils or anything plastic for only one time use. What if we banned these one time use items? Our plants and animals are being killed and destroyed and becoming extinct. We need to replant more trees and protect the animals that are becoming extinct. In my lifetime I want to help save the earth by keeping the forests healthy and not letting mankind destroy it. I want to decrease the cities buildings and create more natural habitats. I want to save the wolfs too!