Birding with Brownies

BROWNIE LEADING 101

In August I became a girl scout leader.  Since I wasn't a girl scout growing up, I anticipated a rougher transition. Or I was ready for it, at least. Everything with being a scout leader is completely new to me...the formalities, procedures,  and how everything with the girl scouts flow. I think that was the part I was most nervous about-the girls somehow discovering that I'm a "phony" leader because I was never a girl scout growing up.

Fortunately, the new role has been super fun-the girls and their parents are such blessings. So eager, excited and energetic! (And so far...no kids have asked me if I was a girl scout growing up!)

In October, Patrick and I led the girls on a birding adventure and the girls were so into it! We packed up bird books, binoculars, spotting scope and the girls brought their own birding paraphenilia.

As we walked along toward the beach and park, the girls sang girl scout songs, talked, raced eachother, sprinted ahead...picked flowers and dead leaves.  We stopped at the ocean where Patrick set up the spotting scope and the girls had a chance to look at loons, grebes, merganzers up close and personal. They were more excited than I had predicted. The brownies lined up behind the spotting scope, ready to see the birds. And they looked through their binos out on the ocean on the lookout for other birds to ID.

Patrick would eagerly find the birds in the book so the girls could identify with what they were looking at. It was fun to see their genuine enthusiasm in birding!

 The girls did about an hour of walking  on the bird viewing trip and there wasn't any complaints of "Are we there yet?". They were troopers.