Nature Notebooking

With the weather being so amazing lately, we've been spending more and more "free time" doing Nature Notebooking, which is basically just a hands-on, intense science study. We pick an item, study/observe it, measure/weigh, notice coloring and other characteristics, and then draw and write about it.

(Bonus: With "free time," I'm teaching science, math, art, writing, and more, all in one "lesson"...and they don't even know it's extra learning! bwaaahaaa)

My Oldest Boy, the nature lover, chose a leaf that was growing through our back fence. He sketched the top, and did a mighty fine job, then flipped it over and found this:
See those tiny eggs? The entire leaf is 10cm. These are itty bitty eggs.
We looked at closely as the naked eye can....

....and then transferred them to the microscope. Oh, how I wish I could take photos through the microscope!! It is SO very neat.

From what we read in the Handbook of Nature Study, and online, we're guessing that these are butterfly eggs, that will darken as they get near their hatch date. They're currently residing in our butterfly house.

If you have any idea what they could be, please let me know.

I'm eagerly anticipating birds' nests and eggs in the trees behind our fence. We've been hearing mockingbirds and robins, and have seen quite a few little sparrows, too.

This may be my favorite March ever. We've had very few storms, and some record warmth, which is just *perfect* in my book!