Fish Hatchery & Salmon Walk

We are very fortunate to live within a mile of a small fish hatchery and a stream salmon spawn in. We visit the fish hatchery several times a year to see fish for fun, but this time of year is a bit more special as we walk through the hatchery to the stream in hopes of finding salmon.

Last night we took a small walk when Dad came home and enjoyed a small adventure through the fish hatchery. They had many more holding tanks open with fish in them then previous visits, making it much more exciting. As well, we enjoyed many birds in the area including Blue Heron, Kill Deer and a Kingfisher.

We made it back to the stream and didn't find too many salmon, kind of disappointing. We did find a few that have already turned, but nothing like years past. We will visit once again in about a week to see if there are any changes. While the salmon were a bit thin, we did enjoy some gorgeous fall foliage, tossing pebbles in the stream and the simple sounds a stream offers. A wonderful evening!!

Fish Hatchery

We joined out Nature Club for a tour of a local fish hatchery on Friday. This particular fish hatchery is a trout hatchery, although they do assist another local hatchery with salmon eggs because the have great local, spring fed water. An interesting and wonderful relationship between the two facilities.

The tour began with the learning a Native American lore or two about salmon. They saw some Native American art on salmon as well. This was great because we have briefly touched this at home this month, to hear more was a wonderful addition for Holly. Once finished with the stories the kids met their tour guide for the hatchery.

He talked to them about salmon and trout, discussing differences between the two - then took them inside the hatchery. Here he went over the whole process of hatching eggs, holding and feeding and then how they release them. Answered questions kids and adults had as well. After this we headed out to the holding tanks and he let the kids dip their hands in to touch trout and then the fun part... feed trout! They were able to feed little trout and then really large trout. They really enjoyed this part, a lot!

Once the kids were finished up with feeding our guide then walked with us out to the stream to see how the salmon run was going. It was great to compare two weeks after out last visit and see such amazing changes. First Holly noticed there were no salmon running at this location any longer (while we were there). She also talked with me about how much the salmon had decayed in the stream since our last visit - and boy oh boy, are they decayed! Such an amazing journey a salmon's life is. Later that day we reviewed once more the salmon life cycle and read one more book. This has been such a great year to learn and witness so much of the ending portion of a salmon's life.

Listening to stories.



What little brothers do while waiting!



Discussing the differences between trout and salmon.

Inside the hatchery.

Tanks that hold trout eggs.

Holly, age 6.

Feeding the small trout.

Feeding.

She invited Hudson over to show him how to feed. It was so sweet!

Bring a great big sister!

Small trout.

Sibling puddle fun!

Heading out to the creek.

Salmon is washed up in that tree, rotting.

It is so pretty back here - all the fall colors are moving in.

Checking out some dead salmon.

Salmon Art

Last week Holly did a really fun salmon art project. This was a simple and effective art project that offered a wonderful lesson on texture. It is creative and goes beautifully with any salmon lessons a child might be enjoying!

She cut out a salmon from an old file folder, offering a more durable card stock. Then she took an old mesh bag from apples we had purchased and cut out some pieces to glue down to the salmon - making sure not to get the head or fins, just the main body. Then she took aluminum foil, shiny side out and covered the entire salmon. There were some little spots around fins and the moth where she cut into the foil to remove a bit for easier folding & tucking. After she was happy with it she glued down the folds well. Rub the front of the salmon really well to see some subtle texture. Now the fun part to see good texture - using Sharpie markers she colored the whole salmon.... as a salmon's gentle colors look.  First she looked at a real photo of salmon online to get a good idea, once she had that she added the fine details like dark spots and the line down a salmon's side as well as the details on fins. It is beautiful when finished. Once done she glued it to blue paper to keep the backing safe from rubbing it apart. I had hoped she would paint a large stream scene to glue it on... but she wasn't interested in that.

This was a great lesson on looking at salmon in detail and replicating it in art! Simple and fun!

Nature Club ~ Salmon

Friday we met up with our Nature Club to discuss and observe salmon. Our host read a beautiful story we own called Salmon Creek by Annette LeBox and Karen Reczuch. The writing is beautiful and the artwork is stunning!

After the reading the kids took a brief walk to look for salmon in a near by creek and pond that they are known to frequent this time of year while spawning. We spotted a few, but not to many. Holly still did a beautiful job of nature journaling their habitat along with some other critters she discovered.

When the our group returned the children set to work creating a salmon life cycle mobile. They had all sorts of art supplies to choose from. Holly decided to work with chalks. She colored, cut and created her life cycle mobile - very proud of her work!

After meeting up with the larger part of our Nature Club we decided to visit another site located behind a local fish hatchery. We visited the same creek higher up and encountered so many more salmon, large amazing salmon! We all spent a long time watching these beautiful creatures battling their way up stream to spawn and then witness several whose lives has already expired. The setting was beautiful, the salmon were amazing and the entire experience was just perfect!!! Holly learned so very much that afternoon - a perfect outing with our Nature Club!