PEOPLE'S CALENDAR THROUGH THE EYES OF AN ECOLOGIST

In Mesyatseslov there are a lot of signs associated with nature, animals and plants. A number of dates are dedicated to natural phenomena and objects. Let us highlight and comment on the most (in our opinion) interesting of them in calendar sequence.

CHRISTMAS AND BAPTISM. HOLY TIME(January 7-19, new style).
From Christmas to Epiphany, hunting animals and birds is prohibited - it is a sin. Misfortune will happen to the hunter. These days can be devoted to promoting humane treatment of animals, anti-hunting or anti-poaching actions.
These days (December 20 - January 20) bird lovers are conducting Christmas bird counts. This - new tradition. Thanks to the Euro-Asian Christmas Count program, which has been in effect since 1992, clubs from young naturalists stations and environmental centers have joined in conducting winter bird counts. The goal of the Christmas census program is to organize long-term, large-scale monitoring of the state of populations of wintering birds in Eurasia - primarily changes in their species composition and relative abundance. There is a special methodological development under this program.

TATIANA KRESCHENSKAYA(The 25th of January).
The sun will shine on Tatiana - for the early arrival of birds. At this time, you can hear the very first bird songs of the year - tits and nuthatches are still singing timidly.

HOLY TRYTHON, MOUSE DAY(The 14th of February).
The holy martyr Tryphon was born in one of the regions of Asia Minor - Phrygia, near the city of Apamea in the village of Kampsada (now the city of Diner in Turkey). From a young age, the Lord gave him the power to cast out demons and heal various diseases. Once the inhabitants of his native village were saved by him from hunger: Saint Tryphon, by the power of his prayer, forced away the harmful insects that were destroying grain crops and devastating the fields.
So, during the winter, the mouse tribe caused such damage in the peasant bins that when the appointed day came, the whole family rose up against the harmful animals. This day fell at the end of winter, when a noticeable decrease in grain reserves was discovered. Why the day of the death of the Phrygian martyr Tryphon was called “mouse day” is unknown. No one has ever been able to completely exterminate domestic rodents. Mice remained familiar companions of peasant life. The ubiquitous animals could predict a lot. If mice eat the leftovers of dinner, the housewife or owner will get a toothache. This is how mice “raised” slobs. When the little one’s milk teeth fell out, the grandmother ordered them to be thrown under the stove with the words: “You, mouse, have a turnip tooth, but give me a bone one.” In general, in any peasant family they lived in harmony with mice and in mutual tolerance - before Tryphon they tried not to take sin on their souls. And they fought thoroughly with rodents only once a year.
In addition to the house mouse Mus musculus, several other species of the Mouse family live in our region: the field mouse Apodemus agrarius, the wood mouse Apodemus sylvaticus (according to recent studies, this species is divided into several new ones), the yellow-throated mouse Apodemus flavicollis and the little mouse Mycromys minutus. This family also includes the gray and black rats Rattus norvegicus and Rattus rattus. Mice and rats play a big role in ecosystems and the human economy, deserving a special day when children can be taught about them in detail.
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From century to century, Russian falconers have revered Saint Tryphon as their patron and turn to him in moments of joy and sorrow that befall them while hunting. So, February 14 is also a holiday for lovers birds of prey and falconers - hunters with birds of prey. Saint Tryphon is the only saint who is depicted in Russian iconography with a bird (falcon) on his hand. Only in Rus' and only from the 14th century did Saint Tryphon begin to be depicted on icons with a bird on his right hand, on horseback, on foot or waist-deep. In addition, at that time, coins were minted with the image of a horseman with a bird on his right hand, and his image almost became the coat of arms of Moscow, instead of the now well-known St. George the Victorious.
Anyone interested in hunting with birds of prey will sooner or later learn from fellow hobbyists the story about the falconer Tryphon. Is this a fairy tale or a reality?
Considering the centuries-old history of the retelling, this is already a legend. It tells the story of how a young falconer from the famous Patrikeev family, the brave fellow Tryphon, was on the royal hunt. He was one of the Tsar’s favorites and he was entrusted with the Tsar’s most beloved gyrfalcon. Once again, the sovereign was hunting in the vicinity of the village of Naprudnoye (today this is a district of Moscow - “Maryina Roshcha”). These lands with numerous lakes were famous in those days for the abundance of aquatic game. The hunt was already coming to an end. Birds of prey on such a hunt were allowed to hunt game only on the instructions of the king, and on that day the tallest did not see any game worthy of releasing his beloved gyrfalcon.
The falconer was impatient to admire the hunt of his pupil, and Tryphon, seeing a flying heron, began to beg the king to allow him to release a gyrfalcon at it. He strongly doubted such a need, but gave in to Patrikeev’s requests. The gyrfalcon went after the retreating prey, and soon both birds disappeared from sight. The falconers rushed after him to look for the gyrfalcon. The king was terribly annoyed that he heeded the stupid request. And when a little later it turned out that the gyrfalcon had not been found, he flew into a rage and ordered Patrikeev to find the bird within three days. And if he does not find her, he will lose his head for his stupidity and inappropriate impatience. After hearing the verdict, Tryphon first hurriedly and consistently searches the forest, lakes, and clearings more than once, but to no avail. By the third of the days allotted to him to search, he had already despaired of finding the bird and was exhausted. Clearly realizing his helplessness and doom to execution, he turned with prayer to his heavenly protector, the Holy Martyr Tryphon.
He prayed earnestly and for a long time, asking for help. So, with the words of prayer, the exhausted falconer sprawled on the ground at the feet of his horse and fell into a heavy sleep. In a dream, Saint Tryphon appeared to him on a white horse with a missing gyrfalcon on his right hand and told the falconer where to find the bird. Waking up from sleep, Tryphon rushed to the indicated place, where he found the gyrfalcon. Happy, he returned to Moscow and straight to the Tsar. I told him about everything that had happened and about the miraculous help of Saint Tryphon. He said that in gratitude for deliverance from inevitable death, he decided to build the Church of St. Tryphon in those places. The king rejoiced at the return of the bird, marveled at the miracle created by the falconer’s heavenly patron and promised to help in the construction of the temple...
This is how the legend goes, which itself, having survived centuries and many human generations, is a monument to the story of Tryphon the Falconer. Trifon Patrikeev - did he really live? Was he the royal falconer? It is unknown, but there was a family of nobles, the Patrikeevs, and they served more than one Russian Tsar. So among them there could have been a noble son, a brave fellow, the tsar’s favorite, falconer Trifon Patrikeev. Unfortunately, we are not destined to verify this.
In Moscow there is Trifonovskaya Street, and on it stands the Church of St. Tryphon in Naprudny, this place is a ten-minute walk from the Rizhskaya metro station. Here are two more monuments that have come down to us through the centuries. Unfortunately, from the temple, which was the second largest in Moscow and could accommodate up to three and a half thousand parishioners at a time, only one of its chapels has survived to this day. It works and can be visited.
The temple itself was blown up piece by piece in the 20th century, sharing the fate of many temples in those years. The fresco depicting Saint Tryphon on a white horse and with a bird on his right hand was separated from the wall of the temple and transferred to the storerooms of the Tretyakov Gallery for storage. There is no clear information about the exact dating of the construction of the temple. This issue was studied specifically by researchers, and it turned out that various parts of the temple building were constructed and completed in different centuries. The earliest foundation under one of the chapels dates back to the reign of Ivan Kalita.

THE DAY OF THE DISCOVERY OF THE HEAD OF JOHN THE BAPTIST. DISCOVERY (March 9).
The Day of Finding brought the first news of the approach of spring. The peasants associated this day with the behavior of birds. We especially waited for the starlings to return, adjusted old birdhouses, and made new ones. They also tried to help the tits - they set up bird feeders under the windows.
On the Day of the Finding, a migratory bird flies from warm places.
Bird sweating - finding nests.
The timely arrival of migratory birds in the spring promises a good harvest of bread.
The tit begins to sing drawn outly, complaining about the lack of food: “It’s shining in Pune, it’s shining in Pune.” The buntings, echoing the tit’s complaints, sing: “And you, man, carry some hay, but don’t be a coward!”
The tit began to sing - it spells warmth. “Forge, blacksmith, lemyashi!”, and then he scolds the slob man for his inept handling of food: “Tilly, tily!”
The black grouse also begins to mutter his spring melody: “I’ll sell a fur coat, if I sell a fur coat, I’ll buy a robe.”
Who was born twice: the first time smooth, and the second time soft? (Bird).

EVDOKIA (AVDOTYA)-IVY, LOCK THE THRESHOLD, WHISTLE, VESOVKA, LOCK THE HEMI (March 14).
The snow settled in the fields, “flattened”, and a crust formed. As is Eudokea, so is summer. If the rook arrived before March 14, the summer will be wet and the snow will melt early. According to signs, on Evdokia the groundhog wakes up and whistles. This is the first sign of spring. Here is the Russian analogue of the famous American holiday “Groundhog Day”!
Evdokia-vesnovka was considered a great holiday among the people, it was celebrated cheerfully and solemnly. In many villages, on this day, girls and children began to “cry spring”, for which they climbed onto the roofs of buildings or gathered on hillocks and shouted out spring flies.
In former times, Evdokia’s day was considered the last day when logging was allowed: “Forest cutting is prohibited because it happens here in its sap.” And now they cut trees both in spring and summer... It is on Evdokia that Forest Day can be celebrated.

GERASIM-ROBEAN (March 17).
According to signs, it is on this day that the first spring bird, the rook, arrives. Indeed, usually in mid-March there is a massive arrival of rooks. According to the old style, this date falls on March 4, when the first rooks arrive. “I saw a rook - welcome spring,” “The rook pecked at winter.” For Gerasim the Rooker they bake bread in the shape of rooks. Rooks are the first companions and assistants of the plowman. The peasant noted with satisfaction the rook invasion. “If a rook sits on its nose,” that is, it feeds heavily on fresh arable land, it means that more larvae of various grain pests will be destroyed. The peasants revered this bird for saving future crops.
This day is convenient for holding Bird Day because you can hang titmice and birdhouses quite early, before the birds begin nesting. Therefore, it is more likely that they will be occupied by tits and starlings, and not by sparrows. As we know, the day of Gerasim the Rooker is celebrated annually at the Akshuat secondary school in the Barysh district of the Ulyanovsk region (teacher V.P. Fomina).

Gerasim the rook-keeper brought the rooks.
The rook sits on his nose (on arable land).
Rook on the mountain - spring is in the yard.
The rooks flew in, began to crush the winter, and began to drink the milk of the snow.
When the rooks fly straight to the nest, it’s a friendly spring.
If the rooks have settled into their nests, then after three weeks they can go out to sow.

FORTY, FORTY MARTYRS (March 22). In the old days, in every Orthodox family, on this day they baked larks from unleavened dough - forty pieces, according to the number of Christian soldiers tortured by the Romans in Lake Sebaste in 313. According to popular belief, the forty who died were incarnated as larks. On this day in Rus' they commemorate fallen soldiers and all deceased loved ones.
This is the day of "calling" of birds. The main "bird" holiday of the folk calendar. It can be combined with carrying out international day birds, modified in accordance with folk traditions. If you want to do this, then you need to take care in advance about making birdhouses, titmice and other artificial nests. By the way, the traditional wooden birdhouse is a Russian invention. It was not known in Western Europe until the mid-19th century. Since ancient times in Rus', it was customary to attract starlings to the house, the destruction of whose nests was considered a crime. Practical Germans made clay nesting boxes in order to later collect eggs or small chicks for making delicacies.
A little about the essence of the holiday.
Russians everywhere believed that on this day forty different birds flew from warm countries, and the first of them was the lark. “As many thawed patches as there are larks.” Therefore, in some places the holiday is remembered under the name “Larks”. Indeed, the first larks appear in central Russia around these days.

Forty birds fly to the forty martyrs.
Forty birds are making their way to Rus'.
Forty forty birds fly to Soroki.
On the Forty Martyrs, forty forty birds bring spring.
I saw a starling - spring is at the porch.
On Magpie, the magpie puts forty sticks in the nest.
The lark is the first - for warmth, the finch - for cold.
The crane on its tail brought the icebreaker wagtail.
The rook is in the clearing, the starling is in the clearing.
A sandpiper flew in from overseas and brought spring (water) from captivity.
On Soroki, the village boys run out early, barefoot, into the yard and try to throw forty wood chips over the roof.

On Soroka, housewives baked special Lenten buns - “larks”, in most cases with outstretched wings, as if flying, and with tufts. The birds were distributed to the children, and they ran screaming and loudly laughing to call the larks, and with them spring. Baked larks were impaled on long sticks and poles and they ran out with them to hillocks and elevated places and, huddled together, they shouted “chants” with all their strength - short chant songs designed to speed up the arrival of the messengers of spring:

Larks, come,
Take away the cold winter,
Bring warmth to spring:
We're tired of winter
She ate all our bread.
There is no bread
No potatoes
The samovar stands on the window.
I drank tea
Ate sugar
I impaled the samovar.

Lark, come,
Bring red spring!
We're tired of winter:
She ate all our bread.
Winter, winter, go beyond the seas!
They bake donuts there,
They cook jelly - winter beckons.
Kshi, let's fly!

lark,
Lark!
It's winter on you,
It's summer for us!
You're wearing a sleigh
And we have a cart!

You little larks,
Come together, come together.
Spring is red, what did it come with?
- On the bipod, on the harrow,
On a horse's head
On a sheaf of oatmeal,
On a rye ear,
On a grain of wheat!

Larks!
Fly to us and bring us
Larks!
We have a red spring and a red summer.
Larks!
We're tired of winter, we ate a lot of bread,
Larks!
And I drank water and three wells,
Larks!
The whole tow was re-spun, wound into reels,
Larks!
They took them to the market, sold them for pennies,
Larks!
They sold them for pennies and bought bread for children.
Larks!

You're a little birdie
You're a vagrant!
You fly away
On the blue sea
Take the spring keys,
Lock out the winter
Unlock summer!

Larks,
Larks,
Come!
I'll redden the spring
Bring it!
Winter is cold
Take it away!
Jackdaws, jackdaws,
Bring a stick!
Doves,
Doves,
Bring me a ball!
Cuckoos, cuckoos,
Bring
By the skein!
Tits, tits,
Bring a knitting needle!
Canaries,
Canaries,
Bring some sewing!
Tap dancers,
Tap dancers,
Bring a brush!
Then, ducks,
Blow the pipes
Cockroaches -
To the drums!

So the children ran with the lark birds, called out to spring, jumped from the roofs into the snowdrifts, planted buns on apple trees in the orchards, on willows, rowan trees, tall bushes, on fence sticks, on thawed patches on hills and mounds. Then the birds were usually eaten, and the head was given to the mother with the words: “As the lark flew high, so should your flax be tall. As is the head of my lark, so that your flax should be tall.”
In some villages, adults used baked larks to tell fortunes: a ring, a coin, a sliver, a coal, etc. were baked into the birds, and by whoever got it, they “learned” about the upcoming fate: a ring - for a wedding, a sliver - a coffin, a coin - wealth... On this day, Novgorodians prepared birds from dough according to the number of people making up the family. A small coin was baked into one of them. During lunch, everyone took a bird, and the one who got it with a coin was considered the happiest for the whole year. The coin was kept on the shrine or carried with you for happiness. In a number of places, a family sower was also chosen - whoever got the lot scattered the first handfuls of grains when sowing began.
The origins of the holiday date back to ancient times, when the Slavs celebrated New Year on the day of the vernal equinox, welcoming spring and new life. It was a big general holiday. With the advent of Christianity, it became childish, and now it is completely forgotten. But in Japan there is an official holiday - the Spring Equinox.
This day is designated as such in the Japanese calendar. The vernal equinox is the first spring holiday in Japan, which, surprisingly, the Japanese associate not with the unique astronomical phenomenon of equal lengths of day and night, but with the Buddhist ritual holiday of Higan, which goes back into the depths of history. The legal day for the celebration was established in 1948. The exact date The day of the vernal equinox for the next year is determined by the National Observatory on February 1 of the current year, making appropriate celestial measurements and calculations. Until 2025, the vernal equinox will fall on March 21, but in leap years and the year following a leap year, the vernal equinox will fall on March 20. The accuracy of astronomical calculations and the shift of the holiday back and forth by a day, in general, does not cause any confusion or questions among the Japanese - what is important is that the day will be a holiday, and, therefore, a day off. According to the “Law on National Holidays,” the Vernal Equinox Day also has a corresponding “natural” meaning: “To extol nature, to cherish living beings.”
It is impossible not to say that after the end of the days of spring Higan, the season of luxurious and indescribably beautiful Japanese cherry blossoms immediately comes. The pink and white wave will be impossible to stop. Both Japanese people, young and old, and foreigners living in Japan, and tourists coming from all over the world to look at the unforgettable picture, will continue to noisily celebrate spring.

Recipe for making "larks"

Dissolve yeast in warm water, add flour, granulated sugar, vegetable oil, vanillin and a little carrot juice for color. You can add flaxseed or hemp seed to the dough. Divide the finished dough into strips and roll each one out. You will get a small roller. We tie each roller in a knot, make a head with a pinched beak from one end, and cut the other end with a knife to make a bird's tail. Insert two raisin eyes, sprinkle with sugar and put in the oven.

March 22 can also be considered Pumpkin Day. On this day, women prepared pumpkin seeds. They began to worry about the upcoming affairs at the melon plant (“beginning”). Pumpkin was considered a thorough, reliable and unpretentious vegetable. In the south of Russia, peasants used pumpkins, like potatoes, to feed themselves and their livestock.

NIKON (April 5).
On the day of remembrance of the Venerable Martyr Nikon in Rus', it was supposed to treat the arriving finches with flaxseed.

ANNUNCIATION (April 7).
Spring has overcome winter. Third meeting of spring. Previously, on the Annunciation, the ritual of releasing birds into freedom was observed.

Annunciation - release of birds to freedom.
The cuckoo is without a nest because it curled it up for the Annunciation.

Tit sisters,
Tap dancers,
Red-throated bullfinches,
Well done goldfinches,
Thieves sparrows!
You can fly at will
You will live in freedom,
Bring spring to us soon!

If you decide to use this custom to promote humane treatment of birds, never release them into the wild. wild birds They usually die within the first days. You can release domestic pigeons. Birds should not be released during unfavorable weather conditions. Please note that unauthorized (without permission from environmental control authorities) catching birds is a violation of the Wildlife Law.

MATRYONA-NASTOVITSA, HALF-REPNITA (April 9).
Lapwings fly to Matryona. The lapwing flew in and brought water on its tail. On Matryona, the oatmeal begins to sing his song “Leave the sleigh, take the cart!”

FRIDAY OF HOLY WEEK. ICON OF THE MOTHER OF GOD “LIFE-GIVING SPRING” (April 9 - May 12).
On Bright Friday, “Forgiveness Day,” women in many places in Russia bowed before the icon of the Mother of God, called the “Life-Giving Spring,” during church services. On this day, women drank water from a newly discovered spring, consecrated on Epiphany days. Everywhere the icon was known as the miraculous patroness of the life-giving life of women. It was not only near Constantinople that a spring with special healing properties came out of the ground - and miraculous springs began to be found on Russian soil.
This day can be called the Day of the Holy Spring, the Day of Water, remembering the purity of the springs and their protection.

JOSEPH THE SONG SINGER (April 17).
Joseph the Song Singer in the popular consciousness justifies his definition by the fact that from this day the voice of the cricket begins to sound and the crane gives its voice for the first time. In central Russia there was a belief: to prevent your back from hurting from field work, you must, after seeing the cranes flying for the first time in the spring, lie down on the grass and somersault over your head seven times or roll over from side to side, saying:
Crane, crane,
There's a stake in your neck,
And my back is like a wheel,
Not with a hook."

The back will be “springy” during field work.
Children, seeing cranes flying to their native lands, echoing their voices, greet:

Icky, icky, icky, icky -
Screams! Screams! Screams!
Ikli, ikli, ikli -
These are cranes! These are cranes!
Kurli, curli, curli,
The cranes are flying, flying!
Kurly-si, Kurly-si,
In Rus'! In Rus'!
You-armor, you-armor,
From high! From high!
So-and-you, so-and-you,
The cranes are coming home!

Although the gray crane is still quite common in our country, in many regions of Russia fewer and fewer cranes nest. Therefore, this species is included in the corresponding Red Books. Usually the first crane wedge in the sky can be seen around April 10th. It would be interesting to hold a competition to see who can see the cranes first. We can suggest celebrating this holiday as the spring Crane Day. To carry it out, special methodological developments will be made.

MARTYN-LISOGON (April 27).
Hunters went out on this day to “fox” - they organized a fox race with greyhounds or hounds. That’s why they called the day of remembrance of St. Martin “Fox Martyn.” It was noted that “on Martyn, the raven bathes and releases the children to the department” (i.e., separates the chicks). Around this time, the very first raven chicks leave their nests (earlier than any of our other birds). This is due to the fact that they hatch at a time when the snow melts and carrion is exposed - the corpses of animals that died during the winter, with which the crows feed their offspring. The raven was considered an unkind bird; its proximity was undesirable. The reason for this is black color the bird and its stern, gloomy character. By the way, the name Martyn is also associated with the bird world - “martyn” was the name given to a seagull.
From Martin's Day in the southern provinces of Russia, they went to the field - early plowing, harrowing of plowed land, and sowing of early crops began.

ZOSIMA-BEE (April 30).
This day can be celebrated as Bee Day, Beekeeper's Day.
The bee was called “God’s servant,” who “works for people’s needs and to please God.” Tireless honey workers were especially revered by the peasants. Bees were protected, and the art of bee breeding was highly valued. And, of course, the worker bee needed constant heavenly protection, like any living creature in a peasant farm. Russian peasants chose Saint Zosima, abbot of Solovetsky, founder of the monastery of the same name, as guardian of the bees. His name appeared in sayings and signs related to bees, for example: “The swarm is swarming - Zosima is having fun.” Zosima, having founded the monastery, took care of the economic arrangement of the monastery. He was one of the practitioners who raised bees in the northern islands. Honey was one of the staple foods of hermits.

GEORGE THE VICTORIOUS, EGORY'S DAY, EGORY SPRING, EGORY (YURIY) VESHNY, EGORY THE BRAVE (May 6).
Yuryev's day was considered a holiday for shepherds. On this day, cattle were driven out for the first time (it should be remembered that before the revolution it was celebrated according to the old style - April 23). Before being driven out to green meadows, the shepherds were honored by the whole world - they were fed, presented with clothes and household items. The night before they caroled around the courtyards - they “called” Yegor.
On all icons, St. George the Victorious is depicted as an armed horseman on a white horse. Yegory was considered the first patron of horses. On this day they were cleaned, bathed, and sprinkled with holy water. The horse was higher than all revered and valued animals in every peasant household.
Saint George was perceived not only as a protector of livestock, but also as the owner of forest animals (“Egor has every animal at hand”).
The arrival of swallows was also associated with May 6th.
The killer whale swallow, as it is also called, has been revered by the Slavs since ancient times, along with the rock dove, as God’s favorite bird. It was impossible to destroy the swallow's nest. There was a sign that “whoever destroys a swallow’s nest will have freckles.” They believed that a swallow offended by people could take revenge on them. Those houses where killer whales made their nests were reputed to be happy: “Under the roof under which pigeons and swallows live, it does not burn.” The Russians believed that if swallows disappear from some area, then this threatens people with troubles. Therefore, peasants have long nailed special planks for their nests on the walls of their houses. According to the Belarusian legend, the swallow, trying to ease the suffering of Christ, dragged away the nails and tried to remove the crown of thorns from his head. According to Muslim beliefs, the swallow sings suras from the Koran. The barn swallow has been chosen as the national symbol of Estonia. “Killer whale,” like “swallow,” often sounds like an affectionate address to loved ones, once again indicating how warmly a person treats this bird.

An awl in front, a ball in the middle, scissors in the back.
There's an awl in front, a fork in the back, he's small, but he's been overseas.
A welcome guest from a distant land lives under the window.
The awl and gutters removed the hut without corners.
The swallow begins the day, and the nightingale ends.
Whoever washes his face with milk at the first swallow will be white.
Swallows dart low - towards the rain, fly high - towards the bucket.

When attracting killer whales to nest, care should be taken to ensure that they can freely enter outbuildings or attics throughout the entire nesting season. You can build supports for nests. Swallow nests are often destroyed or attacked by predators. If you find lost chicks, place them in a shoebox, tin can or in a box and attach it to the place of the fallen nest. If the chicks are still very small, they can be placed in the nests of other swallows. It is very difficult to feed chicks on your own.
In general, city dwellers can rarely observe the killer whale swallow, since it lives in villages, towns, and infrequently on the outskirts of cities. But in rural areas it is one of the most common birds. In the city it is replaced by the city swallow (swallow). In our region, in addition to the barn swallow and the funnel, the shore swallow also nests (in rural areas it is often called the “swift”).

Even on Yegoryev's day the cuckoo begins to crow.
The cuckoo crows until Yegor - the cattle will die.
Cuckoo to Yegorye - to crop failure and loss of livestock.
If the cuckoo crows when the forest is still wet, there will be a hungry year.
If you hear the cuckoo before the nightingale, you will spend the summer unhappily - you will crow.
At the first cuckoo, blurt out money to get people around.
The cuckoo crowed in the left ear - a good omen.

Don't cuckoo, cuckoo, here,
Without you there is disappointment.
Without your voice
Melancholy attacked my heart.

A very rich date to which Swallow Day, Shepherd Day, Horse Day, and Forest Animal Day can be celebrated. They require special developments.

APOSTLE MARK (May 8).
On Mark - the arrival of songbirds in flocks. The phenomenon itself is observed two weeks earlier due to the transfer of dates from the old style to the new one.
Having completed their work in the field, songbird lovers devoted themselves these days to their passion: catching feathered singers. Previously, bird hunting with nets and snares began at this time. On the day of the Holy Apostle and Evangelist Mark, the siskin fishing season opened. A unique day for songbird lovers. It should be taken into account that in our time the season for catching songbirds, on the contrary, ends by the beginning of May - the birds are building nests and catching them at this time is prohibited.
Poultry farming in many provinces of Russia was a common occupation among peasants. Songbirds were caught for sale - there was great demand for them everywhere in the cities, especially in Moscow.

JEREMEY-HARNESSER (May 14).
Now almost no one remembers that Yeremeyev Day was celebrated in pre-revolutionary years on May 1st. It was a bright, noisy and cheerful, national spring holiday. Maya in Roman mythology was considered the goddess of nature, the revival of its beneficial powers and fragrant beauty. And the first day of the month named after her was celebrated with popular rejoicing in all provinces of the Roman Empire. In Moscow, for the first time, May Day holidays began to be celebrated by foreigners, “Germans,” who had lived on Kukui since the time of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. And soon May Day “Russified”.
Daytime festivities “in nature” continued in the evening and ended only at midnight. Everywhere outside the city or in forest clearings, bonfires were lit, which symbolized the onset of the time of the hot sun.
Nowadays the name of Eremey the Prophet has been forgotten, and his day is not celebrated in any way, because it falls inappropriately on May 1 (14).

BORIS AND GLEB - SOUNDERS, NIGHTINGALE HOLIDAY (May 15).
The day of Boris and Gleb is called the nightingale day, because from this time, according to the folk calendar, nightingales begin to sing. In fact, they start singing earlier, but this day is celebrated on May 15 due to the shift in dates. It should be taken into account that during the transition from the old style to the new, the day itself moved, with its name and the properties and definitions previously assigned to it, but the timing of natural phenomena essentially remained the same. In fact, in our region, nightingales begin to sing around May 2. The Russian Bird Conservation Union annually conducts public censuses of nightingales in Moscow on the 20th of May.

If you hear the nightingale before the cuckoo, you will have a happy summer.
If a nightingale sings on bare trees, then the harvest will fail in the garden.
Whoever takes off his shirt at the first nightingale will not be bitten by fleas.
The nightingale sings all night - it will be a sunny day.
The nightingale began to sing - the water has subsided and sowing can begin.

Usually before sowing they said a short prayer or sentence (“God grant, for every share - for me and the birds”), and during sowing they were silent.

APOSTLE SIMON THE ZILOT (May 23).
In Christian Rus', the Apostle Simon the Zealot began to be considered the “steward” of all the green cover of the earth. On the day of memory of the Apostle Simon, the earth was considered the birthday girl. Plowing on Simonov's day was considered a great sin. They didn’t even drive in stakes so as not to disturb the peace of the earth. Popular belief claimed that on Simon’s day the most useful and healing herbs “come out” in the meadows, that Simon gives the herbs miraculous power on this day. For the first time, villagers went out to collect medicinal herbs. Here's to Earth Day and Nerd Day!

SIDOR-BORALE (May 27).
According to the folk calendar, swifts fly to Sidor and bring warmth. In fact, the mass arrival of swifts is observed earlier - in the middle zone around May 10-15, when this day was celebrated according to the old style.

ASCENSION (does not have its own fixed date and falls on the fortieth day after EASTER).
In a number of places, some rituals and signs associated with the cuckoo were timed to coincide with this holiday.
As a rule, around the Ascension, the wheat begins to bloom and the cuckoo falls silent, which is why people say: “The cuckoo choked on a grain of wheat,” “And spring in Rus' would be glad to last forever, but Ascension Day will come, the cuckoo will crow, it will become a nightingale, and by summer it will be hidden in its bosom.” ". On Ascension, the ritual of “baptism and funeral” of the cuckoo was performed, which lasted from one to three days. This was a purely girlish rite, performed secretly; no outsider was supposed to know the place of “baptism” and “burial” of the cuckoo. They made a cuckoo from a bunch of grass "cuckoo's tears" (orchis), giving it a humanoid appearance; sometimes this role was simply played by a bouquet, a wreath, or a rag doll. “Cuckoo” was dressed up in a girl’s outfit (sundress, shirt, scarf), decorated with ribbons, colored rags, and beads.
The “baptism” of the cuckoo took place under a birch tree; the doll was placed in a cradle on a branch or placed under a tree, covered with a scarf and crossed three times. The latter was far from necessary; in fact, the “baptism of the cuckoo” meant the worship of girls: the girls stood in pairs in front of each other over tied branches, kissed three times, exchanged crosses, rings, beads, scarves, supporting a common round dance song. Then the eggs were eaten, and the shells were sometimes hung on the branches of trees and bushes. The kumite ceremony was accompanied by special “kumite” songs:

Kuma with godmother
Let's kiss each other!
So that we all year
Don't swear.
Let's fight -
We will be sinners
Cuckoo
It will become sickening!

You are a cuckoo,
Who are you godfather to?
Let's kiss, cuckoo,
Let's kiss each other, my dear,
So that you and I don’t quarrel!

"Cuckoo,
Cuckoo,
Gray bird
Ryabushechka,
Who are you godfather to?
Who's the gossip?"
"To the red girls
And young girls!"
Where the red girls walked,
The rye is thick there,
And the dinner-diner
And threshing!
The women passed by
There the rye is empty,
And the non-dinner
And unthreshing!

The cuckoo was buried either on the same day after the funeral, or the next, or even every other day. If a grass cuckoo was buried in the ground, then one or two chosen girls did it in a secret place; if the cuckoo was left on a tree, then here all the participants in the ritual had a joint meal, sang funny songs, and then went home. Those who committed suicide were considered relatives for a year, or even for life. Ten days later, the peasant women were going to the forest to “resurrect” the cuckoo. The scarecrow was taken out of the ground, sat on the branches, chanting:

Cuckoo-grouse,
Weeping bird,
To us spring came,
Spring is red,
She brought us grain.

To the tune, they exchanged gifts, presented them with nuts, beads, etc. Then they began a feast, to which men were invited. The grass was left on the branches or carried home. By its roots, young women tried to find out who they would have - a boy or a girl: a long root foreshadowed a boy, a round one - a girl. The weed was kept at home for good luck and in case of a quarrel between the spouses.

TRINITY (May 24 - June 26).
Trinity Sunday, the main day of the holiday, was preceded by Semik. It was called that because it was celebrated in the seventh week after Easter, on Thursday. In the days of Semik, the green world around us was famous. Semik was called “green Christmastide” - so it was filled with various rituals, like Christmastide (they broke a birch tree, “baptized” a cuckoo, worshiped).
On Trinity Day, churches were decorated with greenery. People were heading to mass with bouquets of flowers and green branches. The upper rooms were decorated with flowers and grass. They cut down a birch tree, brought it home, decorated it with ribbons and placed it in the front corner like a New Year tree.

BASILISK. NIGHTINGALE DAY, VASILKOVY (June 4).
Since the day of the Basilisk, numerous hunters have gone out to catch nightingales in central Russia. It was a whole industry, fascinating and well-developed. In big cities, especially in Moscow, there were many lovers of nightingale singing. It's Nightingale Day! It is not necessary to catch the big-eyed singer - go out in the evening to the bushes near the river, at the edge of the forest, in the park and listen to the wonderful trills.

IVAN-BONEDEW (June 7).
Dew contributed to the development of thick grass in the meadows. Therefore, when the Ivanovs were growing up, a mowing of grass for hay was spread out everywhere. But from time immemorial it was noticed that by this day sticky dew with a sweet “honey” taste appeared everywhere on the green vegetation. She destroyed the plants, the future harvest. When honeydew appeared, it was perceived as a real disaster, God's wrath or the devil's instigation. The peasants were powerless in the face of this scourge and turned to John the Baptist and asked for his intercession. Already in the old days, they tried to fight pests using biological methods of plant protection - they sprayed plants with herbal decoctions, accompanied by spells and incantations.

ISAAC - SNAKE HOLIDAY (June 12).
The day of remembrance of St. Isaac became a calendar mark for one of the most common natural phenomena in the animal world. “On Isaac’s day the snakes gather, they go by train to the snake wedding.” It is believed that on this day snakes wander through the forests in villages. In our region, such snake gatherings are observed earlier - in early May. Certain herbs have traditionally been used to treat snake bites. The most reliable remedy against snakes was considered to be the grass Veronica from the Norichnikov family. Saint Isaac himself had nothing to do with the snake tribe.

MEFODIUS OF PATAR, MEFODIUS THE SPAUGHTER (July 3).
Methodius celebrates the feast of sparrowhawks. From this day on, hunters live in anticipation of a quick, easy quail hunt. Quails were caught less as gourmet game and more as songbirds. On Nefyod's day, quail hunters lay down in the field in the evening and, hiding, lay until dawn, and at dawn they began to attract the birds with special pipes. The quails flew towards the sounds and ended up in the nets. They especially tried to catch the white “prince-quail”. The most interesting was considered to be hunting quails with the help of a dog and a tamed hawk. Nefyod's day was always a catchy day, and the hunters, returning with significant prey, had a festive meal. This day should be devoted to promoting the protection of quail - the smallest wild chicken.
Also these days, many signs are associated with frogs and toads.

AGRAFENA SWIMSUIT (July 6).
The eve of the holiday of Ivan Kupala, Midsummer Night. The Day of Agrafena the Bathing Suit seems to merge with Midsummer's Day, and since ancient times they have constituted a single ritual holiday. On the day of Agrafena, peasant girls were “sprinkled with dew” at dawn - they ran naked through the tall, dewy grass in the nearest meadow. According to legends, “Agrafenina dew” strengthened the health and fertile power of a woman. After the morning service in the church, the village women went into the forest in search of medicinal herbs, which had reached their highest maturity by that day. They were looking mainly for the swimsuit - a rather rare plant from the ranunculaceae family. The first swimming in “free” water was solemnly opened (according to the old calendar it was June 23). A bath before bed with a broom of medicinal herbs was a must. The holiday was filled with good feelings, general goodness and kindness.

IVAN KUPALA (July 7).
This is the day of the Nativity of John the Baptist. In memory of the baptismal rite, the custom of swimming on Midsummer's Day arose. The water acquired miraculous properties that cleansed the body of all impurities. In the days of Ivan Kupala, the sun, the ancient Yarila, was honored with special rituals. From the evening of July 6 (June 23, O.S.), on the night of Ivan Kupala, girls and boys danced in circles, burned bonfires and jumped over fire, cleansing themselves of “bad misfortunes.”
A characteristic feature of Ivan Kupala is the numerous customs and legends associated with the plant world. Midsummer Day has come - I went to collect grass. This day should be especially celebrated by botanists and herbal pharmacists.
The girls wandered through the forest and collected medicinal herbs. Some set out at dawn in search of their happiness - the love herb Ivan da Marya. Those who were braver searched in the wilds for the legendary fern flower in the dead of night. According to legend, the fern blooms with a fiery color only on Midsummer Day, and whoever manages to pick it and resists the ghosts guarding the flower will find the treasure...
Everywhere there was a beautiful legend that whoever finds a blossoming fern and manages to take possession of it, “will acquire the power to command everyone. Powerful rulers will be powerless before him, and unclean spirits will be at his complete disposal; he may know where the treasures are hidden; He will enter any treasury, no matter what locks it may have, as the owner, for the doors themselves dissolve in front of him - one has only to attach a wonderful flower to the lock. Invisibly, its owner makes his way to any beauty - and there is nothing that would be impossible for him. Such is the strength and power of this flower.” But we know that ferns never bloom... What a pity!

PETERS AND PAULS, PETER'S DAY, PETROVKA (July 12).
After Peter's Day, the cuckoo stops crowing.
On Peter's Day, the cuckoo choked on mandrika (cheesecake).
The cuckoo is choking on a barley ear - it becomes silent when the zhitar (barley) begins to spike.
The nightingale sings until Peter's Day.
The girls walked into the forest, listening to the nightingale singing for the last time. They danced in circles and “baptized” the cuckoo - like on Trinity Sunday. They spent the whole night in the forest - “watching the sun” - and until sunrise they lit fires and had fun around them.
This is also a holiday of fishermen - after all, the Apostle Peter was a fisherman.

SECOND SPAS, APPLE, TRANSFORMATION (August 19).
It's Apple Day. They treat each other with these fruits. It was considered a sin to eat apples before the Second Savior.
Meeting autumn, autumn. They see off the sunset in the field with songs. In some places they celebrated “Pea Day” - they went to the pea field and treated each other.
The cranes begin to fly away. Whoever wants it, but the crane is from the Savior. Or rather, these days the cranes begin to fly out to the fields to feed - to gain fat before flying away. Such pre-departure concentrations of cranes can be seen in fields located near large forests and swamps until the end of September. In some places, hundreds and even thousands of birds gather, walking through harvested fields and winter fields, collecting carrion and various small animals.

APOSTLE TITUS (September 7).
Mushroom Day. In the economic affairs of the Russian peasant, the Apostle Titus was assigned according to the concerns that fell at this time of year: “Saint Titus grows the last mushroom.” An Orthodox Christian fasts for a total of about two hundred days during the year. And mushrooms were rightly considered vegetable “meat” - a replacement for natural meat. During the mushroom season, thousands of mushroom lovers flock to mushroom hunting. Without bowing to the ground, you won’t raise fungus. Experienced mushroom pickers taught the ignorant: “They take every mushroom in their hands, but not every one they put in a box.” To this day there is nothing to do in the forest without knowledgeable mentors. For mushroom day, rural craftsmen tried to weave boxes and baskets from willow and bast - the “bast trade” brought good income. The famous specialists were griboniz, who knew how to properly dry mushrooms, gribosols and mushroom makers. Having prepared mushrooms for the winter, they said with satisfaction: “If there is mushrooms, so there is bread.” Every mushroom summer was attributed to the mercy of the Apostle Titus.

IVAN-POSTNY, FLIGHT, FLIGHT MAN (September 11).
These are popular, somewhat familiar names for the church day of the Beheading of John the Baptist.
Ivan the Baptist chases a bird across the sea far away.
On Ivan the Baptist, the cranes went south - towards early winter.

KUPRIYAN (September 13).
Departure of the cranes. On Kupriyanov's Day, cranes gather in the swamp to negotiate which way to fly to the warm waters. To coincide with this day, you can organize excursions to the pre-flight gathering of cranes in the fields, take part in crane counting, and hold the autumn festival “Crane Day” and “Crane Homeland”. Special developments will be prepared for these events. In the Russian ecological calendar, Crane Day is dedicated to these days and is usually held on the second weekend of September.

SIMEON THE STILITE, SEMYON THE SUMMER GUIDE, SEMYON THE DAY, MARTHA (September 14).
The beginning of Indian summer (until September 21). This day is associated with the flight of birds to the south.
If geese fly away on Semyon Day, wait for early winter.
After Semyon, the cranes fly off to a warmer region.
On Semyon the Stylite, swallows lie in rows in lakes and wells.
On this day, the devil measures the sparrows with a yardstick: how many to take and how many to release; for this purpose, all the sparrows gather to him, and therefore on Semyon-day they cannot be seen anywhere.

PETER-PAUL-ROWLANCHES (September 23).
They picked rowan berries and hung them under the roof with tassels. The collection of rowan berries turned into a great festive event. Rowan has been endowed with figurative and gentle poetic properties since ancient times. It is sung in folk songs. Rowan was used for compotes and making healing kvass. Rowan infusion was considered a good anti-inflammatory remedy for winter colds.
Part of the mountain ash was prudently left on the bush - for field thrushes, bullfinches, waxwings and all other birds. The preparation of feed for wintering birds can be timed to coincide with this day.

EXCELLENCE (September 27).
First winters. Since Vozdvizhenye, a rapid onset of cold weather has been noticed. Throughout Rus' it was “cabbage day” - cabbage was chopped, and three days before the holiday, cabbage was harvested from all gardens.
According to popular remark, on the Feast of the Exaltation, reptiles and reptiles go to some unknown warm camps, which are called “vyryem” (vyreyem, vyraem, viraem, iryem). Swallows also fly there. The first to fly to the promised land and the last to return from there is the cuckoo, which is why it is called Viraya’s housekeeper. On this day the bear lies in its den.
Exaltation - the last cart from the field moved, and the bird took flight.
This holiday can be associated with events related to the autumn migrations of birds, for example, the Day of Seeing Off Migratory Birds or the autumn Bird Day (our analogue of the Western Bird Observation Days, which are held on the first weekend of October).

NIKITA-GUSEPROLOT, HUSAR, GUSYATNIK, REPOREZ (September 28).
From Nikitin's day all the forest evil spirits fall asleep in a dead sleep... and with them the reptiles of the earth also fall asleep. They begin to cut turnips, kill domestic geese, and wild geese return from our countries to their winter quarters. The geese are flying, dragging the winter bird on their tail. Festival of goose hunters - wild geese hunters. Goose fights were held in rural and city squares. For such spectacles, a special breed of fighting geese was bred in Russia. They were bred in the Moscow region and Upper Volga provinces. Newspapers even wrote about the “winners” and their owners. Goose Day can be dedicated to promoting the protection of geese flying through our region.

ARINA - FLIGHT OF THE CRANE (October 1).
It should be taken into account that the natural phenomenon itself - the mass departure of cranes - is observed earlier in our region (in the second or third ten days of September) due to the transfer of dates from the old style to the new one, and may not coincide with the named day.
"The road is by wheel!" - they shout to the cranes to bring them back next year.
If the cranes fly to Arina, then to Pokrov we must wait for the first frost; and if they are not visible on this day, not a single frost will hit before Artemyev’s day (November 2).

ZINOVY-TITUM (November 12).
Day of the Holy Martyrs Zinovy ​​and Zinovia.
Zinovy's Day was called a hunting holiday. It became the first day of hound hunting. N. M. Karamzin in his “History of the Russian State” wrote that hound hunting for hares in Rus' was introduced by Grand Duke Vasily III, the father of Ivan the Terrible. And before that, dogs had never been used for hunting, because they were abhorred as “unholy creatures.” In central Russia, the first powder usually fell on this day. And hunters with greyhounds went out to hunt hares. On the first day of the hunt they spared neither themselves, nor the horses, nor the dogs. Having obtained a scythe, they used to say: “They put the horse down, but the hare left.” Truly, hunting is worse than bondage. The day can be devoted to anti-hunting propaganda and humane treatment of animals, if this corresponds to your ideas about nature conservation.
In Siberia, this day was considered a holiday for fishermen - they went from Zinovy ​​to catch red fish. A good catch was celebrated with a feast on the high bank of the river - “on the Jurassic”. The holiday of the first catch was called “Yurovaya”.
This is also a Titmouse holiday: wintering birds - tits, goldfinches, bullfinches, tap dancers, waxwings, etc. - fly in and get closer to housing, where there is more food.

The titmouse is not a big bird, and it remembers its holiday.
Zinka doesn’t eat or drink much, but lives happily.
The titmouse is the sparrow's sister.
The tit is small, its voice is loud.
The titmouse boasted with its tail to light the sea. She brought glory, but didn’t set the sea on fire.

The titmouse did not live magnificently overseas,
She didn’t live luxuriously, she brewed beer:
I bought malt, borrowed hops,
The blackbird was a brewer,
The gray eagle was known as a distiller.
God, let us brew beer,
Brew beer and smoke wine:
Let's invite guests - little birds!
The widow owl came uninvited,
The bullfinch walks along the hay fields,
He strokes the owl's head.
All the birds began to say to each other:
“Why don’t you, little bullfinch, get married?”
"I would be glad to get married, but there is no one to take:
If I took a bird, it would be my womb,
If I took tap dancing, then my aunt,
I would take a titmouse - my sister,
I would take a magpie - scrupulous,
I would take a long-nosed crow!
There is a quail beyond the sea,
She is neither my aunt nor my mother,
I love that one and will take it for myself.

Who is the master of our sea?
And who is our rider at sea?
Beats his white breast?
The eagle is our master,
We have a falcon, but it’s a rider,
He hits every bird,
Beats with his chest.
Raven is our abbot,
And he still lives near the humen;
In winter there is a crow on the roads,
And in the summer the crow is in the embryo;
Our woodpecker is a carpenter,
It hits every tree,
And he wants to work on the house;
And our owl is thick-headed,
Her dawns are ugly,
Her conversations are ugly;
And our dove is beautiful,
And those are the good dawns,
And that’s why conversations are beautiful;
Our crane has a long throat,
And that’s why it’s a long throat,
And he's wearing a French dress.
Our magpie is a dandy,
He can’t eat without a roll of bread,
And he can’t go to bed without his dear friend.
And I am a poor little bird, a tit bird,
And I don’t know how to mow hay,
I have no strength to walk in a herd,
I'm dying of hunger and poor
And I collect all the worms.

In consonance with the names of the saints, the titmouse (in the old way “zinka”) became the hero of this day. On the day of Zinovia the titmouse, we recommend organizing the hanging of bird feeders and starting feeding them. To do this, you need to prepare food in advance: unroasted sunflower, pumpkin and watermelon seeds, unsalted lard, berries. Feeder designs are available in various sources, and we will not dwell on their description. It should be noted that if you have already decided to feed the birds, then you need to do this regularly - as the food is consumed. Otherwise, you can kill the birds that are accustomed to feeding. Separate developments are devoted to this holiday and feeding birds.

YURIEV DAY, GEORGE THE VICTORIOUS, EGORY (YURIY) COLD (December 9).
On Yegor's autumn birthday snakes. Egory the winter - guardian of livestock, lord of wolves. From Yegor, the bear in his den falls asleep soundly, and the wolves huddle towards the village backyards. Although the wolves caused a lot of harm peasant farming, people spoke about the wolf condescendingly, or even with respect, and certainly associated the dependence of the wolf’s “well-being” with the favor of its patron, Yegory. It happened that a wolf, along with saints, decorated church walls. IN folk tales The wolf is most often a good character. Wolf - Yurov's dog. That's why Yegory gave the wolf teeth so that he could feed. The hunt for wolves usually also began on Yegoryev's Day.
Today we can only talk about the “Day of the Wolf” as an irrevocable past. In many areas, wolves have been almost exterminated; there is no or very little game in the forests that they can feed on without competing with the “king of nature.” The wolf remains only in the animated series “Well, wait a minute!”, and in the half-forgotten fairy tales of our childhood.

CONCLUSION

If we look at the existing environmental calendar, we will notice that most of the dates in it come from Western Europe or the USA. This is not only Earth Day (April 22), but also Bird Day (April 1), and Conservation Day environment(June 5), and Biological Diversity Day (May 22), and Water Day (March 22) and many others. Meanwhile, there are indigenous, Russian analogues of these holidays, long forgotten. They have their own long history. Why not revive them and use them in environmental propaganda?
I hope that this work will help convey to children the romance of relationships between people and nature that existed in ancient times.
I would like to express my deep gratitude to the director of the Kyiv Ecological and Cultural Center Vladimir Boreyko for his tireless work in promoting the environmental traditions of Slavic and other peoples, for his books, quotes and excerpts from which are used in the introductory part of this methodological development.

LITERATURE

Belov V.F. Folk calendar of Russian nature. - M., 1992. - 64 p.
Boreyko V. E. Ecological traditions, beliefs, religious views of Slavic and other peoples. - T. 1.- Series: environmental propaganda. Vol. 10. - Kyiv, 1998. - 224 p.
Groshev V.D. Calendar of the Russian farmer (folk customs and signs). - M., 1991. - 96 p.
All year round. Russian agricultural calendar / Comp. A.F. Nekrylova. - M., 1991. - 496 p.
Nadel-Chervinskaya M. A., Chervinsky P. P.

"Bird Class"

General lesson-quiz (8th grade)

(It is carried out according to the principle of the TV game “Lucky Chance”. 2 teams of 5 students each take part in the quiz. In addition, assistants are selected from among the students who count the points, writing them on the board. The rest of the students are assigned the role of fans - they participate in warm-up and answer questions if the teams find it difficult to answer.)

Warm-up

Before the quiz starts, team members and fans are asked to repeat the taxonomy of birds. The presenter names the bird, and the participants name the squad to which it belongs.

1. Swallow – order Passeriformes.

2. Swan - order Anseriformes (Lamelbills).

3. Owls - Owl squad (Nocturnal predators).

4. Capercaillie - order Galliformes.

5. Heron – order of Angioede (Stork-like).

6. Crane - order Crane-like.

7. Turtle dove – order Pigeonidae.

8. Tit – order Passeriformes.

9. Hawk - order Falconiformes (Day birds of prey).

10. Crow - order Passeriformes.

11. Woodpecker – order Woodpeckers.

I round

Questions for the 1st team

1. Why do domestic ducks and geese suddenly begin to cry sadly in the spring and become very excited? (The ancestors of our domestic geese and ducks were migratory birds. In the spring, during the migration of wild ducks and geese, domestic ones are also drawn to fly somewhere.)

2. What birds “graze” flocks in South Africa? How? (Ostriches. They see predators from afar and by their behavior warn the shepherd about them.)

Questions for the 2nd team

1. Do all birds hatch their chicks once a summer? (No. Finches, goldfinches, warblers, tits, pigeons - twice; sparrows, buntings - two or three times.)

2. When does a bird sing louder - in flight or sitting on a branch? Why? (In flight. When flapping the wings, the air sacs and air from greater strength enters the vocal apparatus.)

Playing with spectators

Which of our large forest birds mutters with the onset of spring as if saying “I’ll buy a robe, sell a fur coat,” and with the onset of autumn mutters “I’ll sell a robe, buy a fur coat”? (Grouse).

2nd round

Within a certain period of time, the team should try to answer as many questions as possible.

Questions for the 1st team

1. What bird, living in the taiga and tundra, changes the color of its plumage twice a year? (White partridge.)

2. What is the smallest bird in our country? (Korolek.)

3. Who flies to us first - swifts or swallows? (Swallows.)

4. What birds spend the night buried in the snow? (Grouse, hazel grouse.)

5. Which bird is the largest on earth? (African ostrich.)

6. What cities are named after birds? (Eagle, Goose-Crystal.)

7. Where do starlings nest, besides birdhouses? (In the hollows.)

8. Why do starlings and jackdaws sit on cows, sheep and horses? (Insects are selected from their fur.)

9. Which bird is named after an ancient musical instrument because of the shape of its tail? (Lyre bird or lyrebird.)

10. Who is called a feathered cat? (Owl.)

Questions for the 2nd team

1. Which songbirds have red males and greenish or yellowish females? (Crossbills, shuras, lentils).

2. What bird’s cry resembles a cat’s? (Oriole.)

3. Which bird has two toes? (Ostrich.)

4. What bird bears the writer’s surname? (Gogol.)

5. Which birds have females that are larger and stronger than males? (In carnivores.)

6. When is a sparrow’s body temperature higher – in winter or summer? (Always the same.)

7. What birds hatch chicks in winter? (Crossbills.)

8. What birds do not land on the ground, on water, or on branches? (Swifts.)

9. What bird makes a bedding out of fish bones in its nest? (Kingfisher.)

10. What birds and where are they domesticated for fishing? (Cormorants in China.)

Question for viewers

In the 60s A new direction has appeared in science - bionics. The goal of this science is to solve engineering and technical problems based on the study of the structure and vital functions of living organisms.

Today we all use zippers in everyday life. What natural analogue of this fastener is found in the “black box”? (A contour feather, the fan of which consists of many thin and narrow plates clinging to each other.)

III round

In 10 seconds you need to find an error in the proposed statement.

1. Birds belonging to the order of diurnal predators: eagle, vulture, falcon, crow, kite. (Crow.)

2. Birds belonging to the order of owls: owl, owl, tawny owl, osprey. (Osprey.)

3. Corvid birds: crow, pigeon, jackdaw, rook. (Pigeon.)

IV round

Each team is given a card with the name of the animal written on it. You need to depict it so that the other team names this animal.

At the end, the jury sums up the results of the game.

Goals and objectives:

• Contribute to the formation of a caring attitude towards the nature of the native land;
• To develop students’ interest in the lessons of “The World around us”;
• Increase the educational level; carry out environmental education;
• Create conditions for the formation healthy image life;
• Develop the ability to work independently and present the results of individual activities.

Planned student achievements :
Learn that everyone needs to learn to take care of our Earth, live in peace with each other, not litter the Earth, and use it carefully.
Develop individuality through creative and intellectual tasks.

Equipment : audio recording of bird heads; exhibition of books “Nature is your home”; individual creative tasks; questionnaires; colour pencils; multimedia presentation on the topic “Journey along the ecological trail.”

1 day. Opening of the week. (Invitation from the reserve workers) “Correspondence trip to the Ts,Ch.reserve named after. Professor Alekhine." Each class received a plan - a task for participation in a subject week on the world around them. Exhibition of drawings. “How can we not love this land?”

Day 2. Intellectual and ecological game “Secrets of the forest path” (presentation: Quiz “About green forests and forest wonders.”

Day 3. Olympiad “Nature Experts” (1-4 grades).

4 day. Competition for reciting poems about nature. Qualifying round.

5 day. Crafts competition “The Amazing is Nearby”.

Results of the week. Closing.

Before the opening of the subject week on the world around us, students received assignments:
– Prepare crafts from natural materials.
– Pupils of 1st – 2nd grades make drawings, and students of 3rd – 4th grades make a poster from the class on the topic “How can we not love this land.”
– Prepare a poem about nature for the competition (author, title).

A week on the world around us.
1 day. Opening of the week.
Opening of the exhibition of drawings “How can we not love this Earth”

Scenario for opening a subject week on the world around us.

Leading:
Look, my young friend, what is around:
The sky is light blue, the sun is shining golden,
The wind plays with the leaves, a cloud floats in the sky.
Field, river and grass, mountains, air and foliage,
Birds, animals and forests, thunder, fog and dew,
Man and the season are all about nature! ( Music about nature sounds)

Leading: You and I are part of nature. We study it in lessons about the world around us, in extracurricular activities. Let's go with you to the forest.

The floor is given to our guest, an employee of the Central Committee. reserve named after Professor Alekhina __________________, together we will make an absentee trip to the forest of the Central Chernobyl Nature Reserve named after. Professor Alekhine ( word from the reserve worker).

Student:
The forest is not just for our amusement,
He is the wealth of our country.
All the trees, berries, herbs in it
For our benefit, friends, nurtured.

Five 2nd grade students leave:

1 student: Everyone, everything in the world needs each other
And midges are no less necessary than elephants.

2 student: You can’t do without ridiculous monsters
And even without evil and ferocious predators.

3 student: We need everything in the world, we need everything in a row,
Who makes honey and who makes poison.

4 student: Bad things for a cat without a mouse,
A mouse without a cat can do no better.

5 student: And if anyone seems superfluous to us,
This, of course, will turn out to be a mistake.

Host: Everyone, everyone in the world needs each other
And this is what you, children, must remember.

In chorus: So let's save our earthly natural home!

Day 2 . Intellectual and ecological game “Secrets of the Living Path” (presentation).
Answer the questions of the quiz “About green forests and forest wonders.”

Quiz “About green forests and forest wonders.” ( For students in grades 1-4).
– What kind of hunting is allowed in the forest at any time of the year? (Photo hunting).
– Are rabbits born sighted or blind? (Sighted).
– Why do the lower branches of pine die, but not those of spruce? (Pine is a light-loving tree).
– Which tree blooms the latest? (Linden - blooms in summer).
– Name the most voracious predator on the planet? (Dragonfly, because per day it eats several times more food than it weighs itself).
– What birds in the spring mutter “I’ll buy a robe, sell a fur coat”? (Mowers, black grouse - males, the words are similar in imitation of his song - muttering).
– What bird secrets does leaf fall reveal to us? (Bird's nests are clearly visible).
– Who calls the cuckoo, the male or the female? (Male).
– What animal grows teeth every day? (In all rodents).
– Do mosquitoes have teeth? (Yes – 22).
– Which animal has 2 monuments erected? (To the frog).
– What animal runs like a wolf, climbs like a cat, but looks like a bear? (Wolverine).
– Which plants are predators for insects? (Sundew).
– Herb for 99 diseases? (St. John's wort).
– Multi-colored mushrooms? (Russula).
– Is a tree a symbol of our Motherland? (Birch).
– What is the name of a squirrel’s nest? (Gayno).
– Which cubs are born “naked”, and after a few hours they have a covering? (Ezhata).
– What insects clap their hands? (Mosquitoes, moths).

Day 3 . Olympiad on the surrounding world 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th grades.
Let's try to test our knowledge?

4th grade Olympiad tasks “Forest Experts”
F.I.
1. The given list of words names objects and natural phenomena. Write down from these words those that make up groups. Name each group.
Chernozem, mouth, island, wolf, red soil, channel, snow, podzol, bend, source, volcano.

2. It has been established that reptiles (turtle, lizards) lay in nests several times more eggs than birds. Explain why._________________________

3. Make up the correct statement:
a) If it’s autumn in Europe, then in Australia _____________________
b) If it’s winter in Europe, then in Asia __________________________

4. A laboratory mouse that ate an experimental pill and became invisible escaped from its cage. Scientists know it's still in the lab, but how can they find it?

5. What changes will happen to the nature of the Earth if its axis changes from inclined to vertical?

Answer options:

• I will plant a tree;
• I will not pick primroses;
• I'll make a birdhouse;

Grade 3 Olympiad tasks “Forest Experts”
F.I. ________________________________________
1. Guess what it's about we're talking about? The peasant treated her with respect, valued her, kept her and even fed her, trying not to harm her. Man always lived in unity with her, called her mother-nurse, a rare gift of nature.________________________________

2. Write down as many options for grouping these animals as possible. Give each group a name.
Tiger, camel, woodpecker, goose, cow, golden eagle, tit, starling, hedgehog, sheep, dog, chicken.

3. Guess the riddles and think about how you can carry water in a sieve?
1) In the morning the beads sparkled,
They covered all the grass with themselves.
And we went to look for them during the day -
We search, we search, but we won’t find it.___________________________

2) When all the flowers have withered,
We came from above.
And like silver bees,
We sat down on a prickly tree._________________-___

4. There are huge mineral deposits in the tundra. Laying gas pipelines in this natural area, people make “transitions” in the form of the letter “P”. For what?________________________________________________________

5. Are there such edges on the globe:
a) where there is no winter? _____________ b) where there is no night?________________

Continue the sentence: “When spring comes, I...”
Answer options:

• I will plant a tree;
• I will not pick primroses;
• I'll make a birdhouse;
• I will not take the lost chicks;

2nd grade Olympiad tasks “Forest Experts”
Full name__________________________________________ 1. Find and highlight with a colored pencil the words - names of plant parts.

at	P	ts	V	e	T	O	To	e
And	l	e	n	P	O	w	l	A
d	O	P	R	And	h	n	I	l
I	d	To	O	R	e	n	b	d
R	And	n	h	s	m	and	T	X
V	O	P	A	T	P	A	With	P
With	O	l	O	m	A	R	And	G
at	To	A	R	T	P	And	l	A
m	With	T	e	b	e	l	b	h

2. Highlight the extra word in each line and explain your choice:
carrots, cucumber, barley, beets;
spider, butterfly, ladybug, ant;
fox, elk, cow, bear;
linden, birch, larch, oak.

3. Collect as many names of Russian rivers from letters as possible (letters can be used several times)
NILVOGABIESYDMUR___________________________________________________________________________

4. What allows the grasshopper to escape from enemies in the meadow?
a) It secretes a caustic liquid.
b) It has a sting.
c) Its body is shaped like plant leaves.
d) His body is colored like grass.

5. Mice and cockroaches are found in people's homes. Can they be considered pets? Why?________________________________________________________________________________________

Continue the sentence: “When spring comes, I...”
Possible answers:

• I will plant a tree;
• I will not pick primroses;
• I'll make a birdhouse;
• I will not take the lost chicks;
• I won't leave a burning fire in the forest.

1 class Environment Olympics
F.I. ___________________________________________
1. How many wings does a beetle have?__________
2. Beauty of the Russian forest ____________
3. Animals have fur, and birds ____________
4. The leaves are yellow, the birds fly away, when does this happen? _____________
5. Who picks apples with their backs? ___________
6. How many fingers does a person have on his hands? __________
7. How many months are there in a year? _______________
8. Write the name of your country ___________
9. Write the name of your village ____________
10. What shape does planet Earth have? ____________

Test:
1. Which of these words is the name of a flower??
A. tumbler B. unwashed C. forget-me-not

2. What tools do you use in the garden??
A. broom B. shovel C. plane

3. Which of these products is not made from milk??
A. bread B. cheese C. cottage cheese

5. What animals are found in our forests?
A. polar bears B. crocodiles C. Hares

Continue the sentence: “When spring comes, I...”
Answer options:

• I will plant a tree;
• I will not pick primroses;
• I'll make a birdhouse;
• I will not take the lost chicks;
• I won't leave a burning fire in the forest.

Day 4 Nature poem competition (grades 1-4)
(children prepare their own poems)

Leading. A wonderful writer and great lover of nature, Mikhail Prishvin, wrote: “We are the masters of our nature, and for us it is a storehouse of the sun with the great treasures of life. For fish - water, for birds - air, for animals - forests and mountains. But a person needs a homeland. And protecting nature means protecting the Motherland.”

Our state cares about nature and does a lot to protect it: it plants new forests, organizes nature reserves, and preserves many species of animals and plants from complete destruction. Man owes a lot to nature and the forest. Why is the forest so dear to us? ( Student statements).

Leading. Let's summarize: Why are we friends with the forest, why do people need it?

2 student. The forest is our wealth!

3 student. The forest is the green outfit of our Earth. Where there is a forest, the air is always clean.

4 student. The forest is a home for animals and birds.

5 student. The forest is our friend: by retaining moisture, it helps people grow a good harvest.

6 student. The forest is a storehouse that generously gives away its gifts: nuts, berries, mushrooms.

Leading. Let's listen to the sounds of the forest (a recording with the voices of birds, forest noises is turned on). Isn’t it true, the creations of nature are beautiful! Let's think together: will nature be worse if, while collecting nuts, we break a few branches? Or will we pick 2-3 beautiful flowers? Or will we catch an extraordinary butterfly? (children's answers)

Leading. Yes, nature will be worse off. Every wasted twig, every plucked flower, every caught butterfly is a small wound inflicted on nature. And if you inflict one wound, another - your comrade, 3, 4, 5 - someone else - will the same happen to her? Let's think: how to behave in nature? (children name the rules of behavior in nature)

Leading. You know how to behave in the temple of nature, but you also need to know nature itself. (children's answers)

Leading. Let's start the game. Now we will conduct the qualifying round. Everyone participates in the qualifying round. For each correct answer, you receive a token, 6 students who received the most tokens go to 1 round, i.e. become participants in the game. Be careful.

Qualifying round questions:
– At what time of day do beavers build their homes? ( At night)
-Who can drink with their feet? ( Frog)
– What mushrooms does a hedgehog eat? ( Doesn't eat)
– What does “feet feed the wolf” mean? ( A wolf runs after its prey)
-What bird can hiss like a snake? ( Vertichneck, spinner)
-Who sees with their ears? ( Bat )
– Who hears with their feet? ( Grasshopper)
– Which cow do the ants milk? ( aphid)
– What mushroom is named after the beast of prey? ( Chanterelle)
– A herb that even the blind can recognize by touch? ( Nettle)
-What flower blooms without leaves? ( mother stepmother)
– What kind of wood is a piano made of? (From spruce)
– What kind of wood is used to make skis? (Birch)
– Which tree blooms first? (Alder)
– What kind of wood are matches made from? (From aspen)
– What plant heals wounds? (Plantain)

Questions for round 2:
– What animal’s cubs are called deciduous animals? (Hare)
– Which predator’s footprint is similar to a human’s? (Bear)
– Who runs with their hind legs forward? (Hare)
– What animal can easily run through swamps? (Elk)
– Bloodthirsty predator of our forests? (Wolf)
– Which cubs are born “naked”? (Ezhata)

Questions for round 3:
– Which bird skillfully imitates the voices of many birds? (Starling)
– Which bird has the longest tongue? (For a woodpecker - 15 cm)
– What bird makes its nests in cliffs above the river? (Martin)
– Which bird flies the fastest? (Swift)
Leading. Let's sum it up

Day 5Results of the week. Closing.
All the guys gather in the assembly hall, which is decorated. Music is playing

Presenter: Hello guys. Our subject week on the world around us has ended. A lot of interesting things happened this week, a lot of discoveries, but there is still so much unknown and unexplored ahead. Today we will summarize our work.
The children took part in the intellectual-ecological game “Secrets of the Forest Path”. Here are the winners ( awards, gift giving)

We would like to say goodbye to you.
Protect the green forest, don’t offend anyone,
Don't destroy the trees, save the flowers in the forest!

Presenter: Thank you. Almost all the children took part in the quiz “About green forests and forest wonders.” Here are the winners of this quiz (awarding).

And the winners of the “Nature Experts” Olympiad were ( Winner's reward ceremony). The qualifying round is behind us. Here are our best nature experts.

Everything we need is given to us year after year by nature itself,
And that’s why we all can’t live without water,
Without plants and animals, without beautiful high mountains,
Man cannot live without forests, fields and rivers.
So let's save our earthly natural home!

Leading : How difficult it was for the commission members who chose the best crafts, drawings, and posters! But we made it through and here are the winners (awarding in various categories).
So our meeting has come to an end.

You, man, loving nature,
At least sometimes feel sorry for her.
On pleasure trips
Don't trample its fields.
In the station bustle of the century
Hurry to evaluate it:
She is your long-time good doctor,

Sections: Primary School

Objectives:

1. To develop students’ interest in the lessons of “The World around us”; improve educational level; carry out environmental education.
2. To form students’ ability to perceive a holistic picture of the world and respect for nature.
3. Create conditions for the development and implementation of students’ cognitive and creative abilities to study nature.
4. Create conditions for the formation of a healthy lifestyle.
5. Develop the ability to work independently and present the results of individual activities.

Event plan:

1. Opening of the week. Opening of the exhibition “Nature – a source of creative inspiration”.
2. Olympiad “Nature Experts” for grades 3 – 4.
3. Protection of individual projects.
4. Intellectual and ecological game “Forest – a priceless gift of nature.”
5. Results of the week. Closing.

Before the opening of the subject week on the world around us, students received assignments:

1. Prepare crafts from natural materials.
2. Pupils of 1st - 2nd grades make drawings, and students of 3rd - 4th grades make posters on the topic “Take care of our common home.”
3. Get ready to defend your projects “I am a researcher” in the “Nature” category.
4. Answer the questions of the quiz “About green forests and forest wonders.”

Quiz.

“About green forests and forest wonders.”

For students in grades 1-4.

1. Why do the lower branches of pine die, but not those of spruce? (Pine is a light-loving tree)
2. Which tree blooms the latest? (Linden - blooms in summer)
3. What kind of hunting is allowed in the forest at any time of the year? (Photo hunt)
4. Name the most voracious predator on the planet? (Dragonfly, because per day it eats several times more food than it weighs)
5. What birds in the spring mutter “I’ll buy a robe, sell a fur coat”? (Mowers, black grouse - males, the words are similar in imitation of his song - muttering)
6. What bird secrets does leaf fall reveal to us? (Bird's nests are clearly visible)
7. Are baby bunnies born sighted or blind? (Sighted)
8. Who calls the cuckoo, the male or the female? (Male)
9. What animal grows teeth every day? (All rodents)
10. Do mosquitoes have teeth? (Yes – 22)
11. Which animal has 2 monuments? (to the frog)
12. Are there rhinoceroses in our forests? (Yes, rhinoceros beetle)
13. What animal runs like a wolf, climbs like a cat, and looks like a bear? (Wolverine)
14. Herb for 99 diseases? (St. John's wort)
15. Multi-colored mushrooms? (Russula)
16. Is a tree a symbol of our Motherland? (Birch)
17. What is the name of a squirrel's nest? (Gaino)
18. What cubs are born “naked”, and after a few hours they have a covering? (Ezhata)
19. What insects clap their hands? (Mosquitoes, moths)
20. Which plants are predators for insects? (Sundew)
21. The name of which plant tells where it lives? (Plantain)

A week on the world around us.

1 day: Opening of the week.

Opening of the exhibition “Nature – a source of creative inspiration”

Scenario for opening a subject week on the world around us.

Leading:

Look, my young friend, what is around:
The sky is light blue, the sun is shining golden,
The wind plays with the leaves, a cloud floats in the sky.
Field, river and grass, mountains, air and foliage,

(Music sounds, Nature appears).

Nature:

I am Nature. I am a great master. Eternal master of life.
I can, man, reward you for complicity - everything is in my power.
You and I are rolling along the same road - not an hour apart, not a day.
And you cannot be above me, just as you cannot be outside of me!

Leading: You and I are part of nature. We study it in lessons about the world around us and at extracurricular activities. Let's go with you to the forest.

Nature:

The forest is not just for our amusement,
He is the wealth of our country.
All the trees, berries, herbs in it
For our benefit, friends, nurtured.

Leading: Yes, in the forest, wherever you look, there are miracles everywhere. Even adults encounter the unknown, mysterious, and amazing on forest paths. And the guys! Every step is a new miracle for them.

I wonder if you met an old man in the forest?
There is an old man in the world, an old man - Lesovichok,
He wears a multi-colored cap made of variegated leaves.
Birch bark boots, painted trousers
He himself is in a green yoke, a staff in his hand.
As if he walks along narrow paths, wanders along the blades of grass,
Old man - Lesovichok, multi-colored cap.
Every day, both in the rain and in the heat, he guards the forest world.

(Music sounds, an old man appears - Lesovichok).

Old Man - Lesovichok: Hello guys, do you recognize me?

Yes, I’m an old man – Lesovichok, but you won’t immediately understand who I am,
On unknown paths in the forest you will find me.
My house is in the depths of the forest, I listen to the forest with you.
The sun pours down on the trees and flowers from above.
I guard the dense forest and my friends are with me:
Squirrels, hedgehogs, moles, be my friend too!

(Music sounds, the Wise Owl appears).

Wise Owl: Hello guys. Do you recognize me? I am the Wise Owl.

There is just a temple, there is a temple of science,
And there is also a temple of nature - with forests,
Reaching out our hands towards the sun and winds.
He is holy at any time of the day,
Open to us in hot and cold weather.
Come here, be a little hearty,
Do not desecrate his shrines!

(Music sounds, the Forest Fairy appears).

Forest Fairy:

Hello guys, hello friends!
On this beautiful day, I’m glad to see you!
I am glad to welcome dear guests.
I want to meet you as soon as possible.
Everyone calls me the Forest Fairy.
I love jokes, laughter, and I recognize your names right away.
Come on, together - 1 - 2 - 3 - say your name!
I am very glad to meet you,
I want to invite you for a walk in the forest, friends.
Make noise, make noise, green forest!
I know your majestic noise,
And your peace and the shine of heaven
Over your curly head.
Since childhood I have become accustomed to understanding
Your silence is mute
And your mysterious tongue
Like something close and dear.

(Music sounds, Leshy and Kikimora appear).

Goblin: Hello, here we are, did you know?

Kikimora:

When you walk along a forest path,
Questions overtake you in a crowd.

Goblin:

One “why” rushes between the trees,
Flying on the heels of an unknown bird.
Another - a bee climbed into a flower,
And the third is to jump into a stream like a frog.

Kikimora:

“What” scurries like a mouse under the leaves in holes.

“Why” sits on a green leaf,
“Where” flew astride a beetle.
“Why” climbed onto a stump after the lizard...
Question after question, and so on every day.

Goblin:

Let's go, friends, along the forest path
Look for answers under the green tent.

Leading: This is how many guests came to us for the subject week. They didn’t just come, but each with their own task. Now they will introduce us to them.
Goblin: Kikimora and I are waiting for you tomorrow at the subject Olympiad on the surrounding world “Nature Experts”.
Wise Owl: On Wednesday you will come to visit me, where you will defend your research projects on the topic “Nature”.
Forest Fairy: On Thursday we will have an intellectual-ecological game “Forest - a priceless gift of nature”, the participants of which will be the winners of the quiz “About green forests and forest wonders”.

Lesovichok: During the week I will have an exhibition of crafts made from natural materials “Nature is a source of creative inspiration”, where you will see many interesting works and an exhibition of drawings and posters that you have prepared for this week. Come, choose best works. And on Friday, to close the week, we will reward the best of the best.

Leading: Very good. This concludes our meeting. We wish you success!

Day 2: Olympiad “Nature Experts” for grades 3-4.

The best students in the subject were previously selected in the classes, and they took part in the Olympiad.

Olympic tasks:

1. Read the story and highlight the mistakes.

In winter in the forest.

Beautiful in the forest in winter. Fresh and frosty. The sun is shining brightly high in the sky. The trees have put on fluffy white coats. Somewhere in the depths of the forest, a cuckoo crowed, a bat flew silently, and a woodpecker was heard knocking. The fiery tail of a fox flashed in the bushes. She is in search of food: deep under the snow there is a mouse hole. The fox, busy mouseing, does not notice the hare, which is very nearby gnawing the bark of a young Christmas tree. Quiet all around. All you can hear is the chirping of a crow. She informs everyone that a person is approaching.

2. Emphasize the correctly constructed power supply circuit.

A) plant litter - earthworms– foxes – moles;
B) earthworms – plant litter – moles – foxes;
C) plant litter – moles – earthworms – foxes;
D) plant litter – earthworms – moles – foxes.

3. Collect as many animal names as possible from letters(letters can only be used once in a word): I V R E O Y N L S K T A.

4. Answer the questions.

A) The name of which poisonous forest plant is associated with the name of a bird? Beast?
B) What does “legs feed the wolf” mean?
Q) How many legs does a spider have?
D) Which beetles are named after the month in which they were born?
D) Which plant is called water beauty?

5. Connect with lines.

6. Write down the names of the trees (at least three in each group) that grow.

In deciduous forests_______
In coniferous forests______

7. Read the telegram, write down its text. Answer the question “Why?”

8. Place the letters in the cells, including the letter “H”, so that you can read the names of the trees.

9. Read, write and explain the meaning.

Day 3: Protection of research projects.

Our city annually hosts a City Competition research projects for younger schoolchildren “I am a researcher.” Children can choose any topic and perform in different categories. To choose best projects Our gymnasium is hosting a school tour, which coincides with a subject week around the world around us, and we hear from children who have prepared works and projects in the “Nature” category.

Project topics the guys choose different ones, for example:

How to distinguish a toad from a frog.
- How a rainbow appears.
- Why is the Earth round?
- Where and when did dinosaurs live?
- How wind is formed.
- The influence of plants in the house on a person’s well-being and mood.

The guys perform and defend their projects before the commission, which determines the winners, sending them to the regional competition.

Day 4: Intellectual and ecological game “Forest – a priceless gift of nature.”

The guys who won the quiz “About green forests and forest wonders” take part in this game.

Form:"Finest Hour"

Goals and objectives:

1. Develop the cognitive interests of younger schoolchildren.
2. To uncover environmental problem, to instill in children a caring attitude towards forestry.
3. To promote a sense of kindness, empathy, and involvement in all living and beautiful things that surround us.

Decor:

The place where the game takes place turns into a forest (drawings of trees, herbs, flowers, birds, forest animals, insects, the sun, clouds, mushrooms are attached to the walls).

Posters: “The forest is our wealth!”, “The fate of nature is our destiny.”

Posters with tasks.

Signal number cards.

Musical arrangement.

Progress of the game

Leading. Today we will conduct an intellectual-ecological game “Finest Hour”, but this game is not quite ordinary, it will take place on the edge of a forest.

1 student.

Hello, forest, dense forest, full of fairy tales and miracles!
What are you making noise about in the leaves on a dark, stormy night?
What are you whispering at dawn, covered in dew, like silver?
Who is hiding in your wilderness: what kind of animal, what kind of bird?
Open everything, don’t hide it: you can see that we are our own!

Leading. A wonderful writer and great lover of nature, Mikhail Prishvin, wrote: “We are the masters of our nature, and for us it is a storehouse of the sun with the great treasures of life. For fish - water, for birds - air, for animals - forests and mountains. But a person needs a homeland. And protecting nature means protecting the Motherland.” Our state cares about nature and does a lot to protect it: it plants new forests, organizes nature reserves, and preserves many species of animals and plants from complete destruction. Man owes a lot to nature and the forest. Why is the forest so dear to us? (Student statements)

Leading. Let's summarize: Why are we friends with the forest, why do people need it?
2 student. The forest is our wealth!
3 student. The forest is the green outfit of our Earth. Where there is a forest, the air is always clean.
4 student. The forest is a home for animals and birds.
5 student. The forest is our friend: by retaining moisture, it helps people grow a good harvest.
6 student. The forest is a storehouse that generously gives away its gifts: nuts, berries, mushrooms.

Leading. Let's listen to the sounds of the forest (a recording with the voices of birds, forest noises is turned on). Isn’t it true, the creations of nature are beautiful! Let's think together: will nature be worse if, while collecting nuts, we break a few branches? Or will we pick 2-3 beautiful flowers? Or will we catch an extraordinary butterfly? (children's answers)

Leading. Yes, nature will be worse off. Every wasted twig, every plucked flower, every caught butterfly is a small wound inflicted on nature. And if you inflict one wound, another - your comrade, 3, 4, 5 - someone else - will the same happen to her? Let's think: how to behave in nature? (children name the rules of behavior in nature)

Leading. You know how to behave in the temple of nature, but you also need to know nature itself.

7 student.

When you walk along a forest path, questions overtake you in a crowd.
One “Why” rushes through the trees, flies on the heels of an unknown bird,
Another one climbed into a flower like a bee, and the third one jumped into a stream like a frog.
“What” sneaks like a mouse under the leaves in holes,
“Who” is looking for a hidden rustle in the bushes,
“Why” sits on a green leaf, “Where” - flew astride a beetle,
“Why” followed the lizard up the stump, question after question, and so on all day.
Let's go, friends, along the forest path to look for answers under the green tent.

Leading. Let's start the game. Now we will conduct the qualifying round. Everyone participates in the qualifying round. For each correct answer, you receive a token, 6 students who received the most tokens go to 1 round, i.e. become participants in the game. Be careful.

Qualifying round questions:

At what time of day do beavers build their homes? (At night)
- Who can drink with their feet? (Frog)
- What mushrooms does a hedgehog eat? (Doesn't eat)
- What does “feet feed the wolf” mean? (The wolf runs after its prey)
- What bird can hiss like a snake? (Windows, spinner)
- Who sees with their ears? (Bat)
- Who hears with their feet? (Grasshopper)
-Which cow do the ants milk? (Aphid)
- What mushroom is called the beast of prey? (Fox)
- A herb that even the blind can recognize by touch? (Nettle)
-What flower blooms without leaves? (Mother-stepmother)

Leading. Let's summarize the results of the qualifying round. Count the tokens. Who has more tokens? We invite the winners of the qualifying round to continue the game (winners come out).

8 student.

Make noise, make noise, green forest! I know your majestic noise,
And your peace, and the shine of heaven above your curly head.
Since childhood, I have become accustomed to understanding your mute silence,
And your mysterious language is like something close, dear.

Leading. The Russian forest is many-sided and beautiful! Almost 300 species of trees, shrubs, and herbs can be found in the forest. The importance of the forest is enormous; the more actively people invade the forest environment, the more our green friend needs protection. Caring for the forest should become the norm of behavior for every person. Today, while playing, we will remember what plants are found in our area and what role they play in our life. The first round of our game is called “Plants of our region”. The questions that will be asked are devoted to plants that grow in our region in the forest. Having chosen the correct answer, pick up the card with the correct number ( a poster is posted).

Questions:

What wood is a piano made from? (From spruce)
- What kind of wood is used to make skis? (Birch)
-Which tree blooms first? (Alder)
- What kind of wood are matches made of? (From aspen)
- What plant heals wounds? (Plantain)

Leading. Let's summarize the results of the 1st round (the results are summed up, 1 participant who scored fewer points is eliminated from the game). We have 5 participants and we are starting the 2nd round.

9 student.

What are we planting when we plant forests? The thicket where the badger and the fox roam,
The thicket where the squirrel hides the baby squirrels, the thicket where pileated woodpeckers knocking

Leading. We can meet many animals in the forest, but there would be even more of them if people did not interfere in their lives. Many animal species are listed in the Red Book. Who knows what the Red Book is?

(Children's statements).

Leading. Yes, the Red Book is a book in which rare species of plants and animals are listed. It is called so because the color red is a danger signal. The Red Book was established by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources in 1966. It is stored in the Swiss city of Morges. It contains data about all plants and animals that urgently need human care and protection. Otherwise, they may disappear from the face of the Earth, just as, for example, the sea cow disappeared. Animals from our country are also included in the International Red Book. For example, in the Amur region the Amur tiger, red wolf, cranes - white and black, Atlantic walrus and others are protected. However, it is impossible to record all types of rare animals and plants in this book, so many countries began to compile their own Red Books. In March 1974, the Red Book was established in our country (a poster is hung up).

Leading. Some animals have not yet been included in the Red Book, but they must be treated with care. The second round of our game is called “Wild Animals of Our Forests”. The questions you will be asked are about wild animals. Having chosen the correct answer, pick up the card with the correct number.

Questions for round 2:

The cubs of which animal are called deciduous animals? (Hare)
- Which predator's footprint is similar to a human one? (Bear)
- Who runs with their hind legs forward? (Hare)
- What animal can easily run through swamps? (Elk)
- Bloodthirsty predator of our forests? (Wolf)
- Which cubs are born “naked”? (Ezhata)

Leading. Let's summarize the results of round 2 After the 2nd round we have 4 participants left, for them – the 3rd round “Birds” (the phonogram of the song “By the Road of Lapwing” is played, a poster is hung on the board).

Questions for round 3:

Which bird skillfully imitates the voices of many birds? (Starling)
-Which bird has the longest tongue? (For a woodpecker - 15 cm)
- What bird makes its nests in cliffs above the river? (Martin)
-Which bird flies the fastest? (Swift)

Leading. Let's summarize the results of the 3rd round (results are summed up, 1 participant is eliminated). After the 3rd round, we have 3 participants left, for them the 4th round is “Logical chains”.

10 student The forest is not only for our amusement, it is the wealth of our country.
All the trees in it, berries, herbs, are grown for our benefit, friends.
Take care of every bush, guys, where you will see a simple sprout,
An oak tree can grow three times the size of a tree, a birch tree or a thick raspberry tree.

Leading. We know that a lot of mushrooms grow in the forest. Some mushrooms prefer to grow in deciduous forests, some prefer to grow in coniferous forests (a poster is hung on the board).

Leading. Which of these mushrooms grows in deciduous forests? (Ryzhik)

Summing up the results of the 4th round, we see that we have 2 participants in the super game.

11 student.

Look, my young friend, what is around?
Field, river and grass, mountains, air and foliage.
Birds, animals and forests, thunder, fog and dew,
Man and the season are all about nature!

Leading. You and I are part of nature. We study it in lessons about the world around us. In the super game, you will make up as much as possible more words in 3 minutes, using the letters of the word “natural history”.

(The word is hung up, the guys write down the words on pieces of paper).

Leading. Time is up, let's hear from the participants (children take turns reading the wordsA). We see the winner, congratulate him (awarding).

(The soundtrack of the song “Don’t tease dogs” plays).

Day 5: Results of the week. Closing.

All the guys gather in the assembly hall, which is decorated. Music is playing

Nature: Hello guys. Our subject week on the world around us has ended. A lot of interesting things happened this week, a lot of discoveries, but there is still so much unknown and unexplored ahead. Today we will summarize our work. I give the floor to Kikimore and Leshy.

Goblin: The guys took part in the “Nature Experts” Olympiad. Here are the winners (awarding, presenting gifts)

Kikimora:

We would like to say goodbye to you.
Protect the green forest, don’t offend anyone,
Don't destroy the trees, save the flowers in the forest!

Nature: Thank you. Let's listen to the Wise Owl.

Wise Owl: You know that we listened to the projects and work of the guys on research activities. We learned so many interesting things, what wonderful researchers study at your gymnasium. I say to everyone: thank you! But as always, there are winners in competitions. (awarding).

And I also wanted to tell everyone:
You, my friend, don’t let us down!
Promise to be truthful and kind!
Don't hurt either the bird or the cricket,
Don't buy a butterfly net!
Love flowers, forests, open spaces of fields -
Everything that is called your homeland.

Nature: Thank you. I give the floor to the Forest Fairy.

Forest Fairy: Almost all the children took part in the quiz “About green forests and forest wonders”, the winners of this quiz took part in the intellectual and ecological game “Forest - an invaluable gift of nature”. Here is the winner of this game (awarding).

Everything we need is given to us year after year by nature itself,
And that’s why we all can’t live without water,
Without plants and animals, without beautiful high mountains,
Man cannot live without forests, fields and rivers.
So let's save our earthly natural home!

Nature: Thank you. Let's listen to Lesovich.

Lesovichok: How difficult was it for me and the commission members who chose the best crafts, drawings, and posters? But we made it through and here are the winners (awarding in various categories).

Nature:

So our meeting has come to an end.
You, man, loving nature,
At least sometimes feel sorry for her.
On pleasure trips
Don't trample its fields.
In the station bustle of the century
Hurry to evaluate it:
She is your long-time good doctor,
She is the ally of the soul.
Don't burn her recklessly,
And don’t exhaust it to the bottom,
And remember the simple truth:
There are many of us, but she is one!

This article will focus on upland game. Hunters usually include wood grouse, hazel grouse, black grouse, white and tundra partridge, and sometimes woodcock on its list. You will learn about the habitat, habits, nutrition, breeding and nesting characteristics of the hog bird, and you will also be able to see photos from the hunt for this type of game.

Common capercaillie

The capercaillie is a typical taiga bird. Leads a sedentary lifestyle, only occasionally, irregularly and not far away, migrates in the autumn winter period. Distributed in the forest belt of Europe, western and central Siberia (up to Lake Baikal).

It begins to show even before the first thawed patches appear. The displaying male spreads his tail like a fan, quietly clicks and chirps. Where there are few wood grouse, the males display alone. The height of the current coincides with the intense melting of snow in the forest. After the mating period, wood grouse begin to molt, and they hide in dense and cluttered areas of the forest.

Only the female participates in raising the offspring. Chicks appear in mid-June and later. In the first days they feed on ants and other insects, later they begin to peck at plants - green shoots, inflorescences, berries and seeds. In winter, wood grouse feed almost exclusively on pine needles.

Lives in larch forests of Eastern Siberia capercaillie- a close relative of the common wood grouse, with which it sometimes forms hybrids. The stone capercaillie differs from the common capercaillie in its smaller size, black beak, and long tail. It talks on the ground (although it often starts singing on a tree) and does not stall. His song also sounds different - without clicking and chirping.

The catch of this bird is widespread in Russia and abroad. Na naon our website you can familiarize yourself with detailed review ways to hunt wood grouse.

Grouse

This species of upland bird is distributed from the western border of the CIS to the coast of the Sea of ​​Okhotsk. Inhabits spruce and mixed forests with dense undergrowth. A sedentary bird, it occasionally and irregularly migrates in winter. Willingly settles in the valleys of streams and small taiga rivers. Sexual maturity occurs at the age of one year. During the mating season, which begins in late March - early April, hazel grouse can form pairs.

The male is always close to the brooding female, and then the brood. Usually there are no more than 10 eggs, rarely up to 15. They are shiny brown in color with rare reddish spots and streaks, sometimes without them. The female sits firmly in the nest, takes off from under her very feet and sometimes allows herself to be picked up by her hands. Incubation lasts about three weeks. Young hazel grouse, barely dry, leave the nest and, together with the female, go to forest clearings and edges, where they find food in abundance. The first broods occur in mid-June. Three-week-old hazel grouse spend the night in trees, and in August they are already indistinguishable from adults. They feed on insects, mollusks, berries, alder and birch leaves, and peck tree buds, birch inflorescences and young shoots. In autumn, the broods break up. Hazel grouse spend the winter in pairs or alone in the same places where they nest.

Hunting hazel grouse with the help of various pikas and decoys is extremely exciting. In addition, game is hunted with hunting dogs - mainly pointers and huskies.

Black grouse

The Kosach lives in forest and forest-steppe zones of Europe and Asia. Prefers edges, clearings, sparse deciduous forests alternating with fields; avoids the remote taiga. A sedentary bird, only occasionally undertaking long migrations in winter in search of places rich in food. In the past, when there were many black grouse, wandering flocks of 300-500 birds were not uncommon even in the European part of the country, but now their winter flocks do not exceed several dozen.

The grouse's winter food consists mainly of plant buds, primarily birch. During the day, the flock feeds in trees, at night it buries itself in the snow and spends the night there. In frost and snowstorms, black grouse can sit under the snow for a long time, until noon, but usually fly out to feed at dawn. If the thaw gives way to frost at night, the black grouse sleeping under the snow find themselves trapped in the ice in the morning. This is one of the reasons why black grouse die in winter.

In the spring - in March - grouse currents begin with the first thawed patches. The place for leks is chosen at the edges, among the swamp. The scythes that have flown here “chuff”, “mutter”, fan out their tails, and fight. Where there are few black grouse, they display alone, sometimes in the middle of a field, away from the edges or in trees, without descending to the ground. The peak of the currents occurs in April. Black grouse do not form permanent pairs, and males do not take part in incubation and caring for the offspring. Nests are made under a bush or small tree, not far from the lek and near the berry patches. If the eggs of the first clutch die, the female lays another 2-4 eggs. In June - early July, chicks hatch from the eggs, and within a week they grow feathers on their wings. In the morning they feed in berry fields, burnt areas and unmown meadows and clearings; When the grains ripen, birds visit them regularly.

At the end of August and beginning of September, young black grouse break away from the female and lead an independent life. The summer food of black grouse is berries, cereal grains, inflorescences of forest herbs, and partly insects.

Caucasian black grouse

lives in the alpine belt of the Main Caucasus Range and the Lesser Caucasus. It differs from the ordinary one in its smaller size; Males have tail braids that are curved downwards, while females have a smaller “streamy” pattern on the chest. In winter it descends from the mountains into tall fir forests.

Ptarmigan

The Central Russian subspecies of the white partridge is listed in the Red Book of the Russian Federation). The distribution area of ​​this bird occupies the north of the European part, Siberia, and Northern Kazakhstan. In the tundra it nests in moss swamps and burnt areas, in southern parts range - along river valleys and willow thickets. In winter, it undertakes irregular migrations, the length of which depends on the food harvest. In the alpine belt of mountains and tundra, partridges wander, moving to places more suitable for wintering.

These birds are interesting because of their protective plumage. In winter they are snow-white, with a black beak and black outer tail feathers; in summer the plumage is red-brown. Various combinations of red-brown and white are characteristic of the spring and autumn plumage of these birds.

In winter, a flock of partridges stays among the bushy willows and birches, occasionally flying up onto trees and pecking at the buds. At night, birds climb under the snow. Their legs are densely covered with feathers, so the birds easily move on soft snow, almost without falling through. In addition to the kidneys winter time partridges feed on shoots and berries dug out from under the snow.

In early spring, even before thawed areas, males begin to display. Then the birds are divided into pairs and placed in nesting areas, which are vigilantly guarded from other males. At this time, fights are common among cockerels.

The nest is made in a fairly secluded place and is well camouflaged. An important condition for the chosen location is the possibility of quick takeoff and good review. In the tundra, where humans do not disturb birds, there are open nests. The incubating female sits very tightly. Only the female incubates, but the male is near the nest.

Chicks appear in late June - early July (depending on weather and terrain). Having barely dried, they leave the nest and, with both parents, go to dense bushes, to berry fields, where they remain until the young rise to the wing. It is not uncommon for several families to join together.

Partridges are characterized by several molts: three for the female and four for the male. The white partridge is a herbivorous bird. Grass shoots, tree buds, plant seeds and berries form the basis of its food. Chicks also readily eat insects.

Tundra partridge

This partridge is medium in size. The body is dense, the head is small, the relative length of the wings is somewhat longer than that of other grouse birds, the tail is relatively short and slightly rounded. In winter the toes are fully feathered.

The tundra partridge lives in the arctic and moss tundras, subalpine and alpine mountain belts, and to the north it penetrates further than other grouse birds. Like the white partridge, this species has a circumpolar distribution, but its range is less extensive and has a more complex configuration. The tundra partridge lives in the north of the Kola Peninsula, the northern parts of the Ural Mountains and the Yamal and Gydan Peninsulas, on Taimyr and in the Yakut tundra. Further, the northern border of the range passes for the most part along the mother's coast ka, and the southern border covers the Verkhoyansk Range and the Aldan Highlands and along the southern slopes of the Stanovoy Range reaches the coast of the Sea of ​​Okhotsk. Within the indicated boundaries there are no partridges in the lowlands of Kamchatka, the valleys of Anadyr and Penzhina, and the tundras of the lower reaches of Kolyma and Alazeya. The tundra partridge also inhabits the mountain systems of Altai, Sayan and Khamar-Daban, and is found on the Commander and Kuril Islands and Franz Josef Land. This species lives in North America, Greenland, Iceland, Spitsbergen, the northern parts of Great Britain and Scandinavia, and the Alps and Pyrenees. Within the range of partridges, 26 subspecies are distinguished.

The color of the plumage in winter is white, with the exception of black tail feathers (at their ends there are white apical stripes), a black beak and dark claws. The shafts of the primary flight feathers are also dark. Males have a so-called “frenulum” - a black stripe running along the sides of the head from the corner of the mouth through the eye. Females do not have such stripes; only some individuals have individual black feathers in these places.

In spring, males acquire their breeding plumage, characterized by the presence of brown feathers scattered over the head, neck and shoulders. Females do not have spring plumage. The summer outfit is variegated: the color of most of the body is formed by gray feathers with transverse black, white and yellowish stripes, the belly and wings remain white.

The autumn outfit is similar to the summer one, but white winter feathers are already appearing in it. The winter moult is extended, which is an adaptation of birds to living in landscapes where snowless areas of the tundra alternate with spaces covered with snow.

Overall appearance The tundra partridge is very similar to its relative, the white partridge, and in field conditions (especially in winter) it is not easy to distinguish them. The tundra duck differs from the latter in the grayer color of its plumage during the snowless period, the dark claws and shafts of the primary flight feathers, the presence of a “frenum” in males, a thinner and more graceful beak and somewhat smaller size.

The tundra partridge leads a predominantly terrestrial lifestyle and moves well both on hard ground and loose snow. Like ptarmigans, in winter the birds sometimes fly up into trees when feeding, but this behavior is observed much less frequently among tundra birds. The periods of feeding activity are morning and evening. In winter, when daylight hours are short and feeding time is limited, daytime rest is poorly expressed.

In winter, tundra partridges keep in flocks, which, however, are smaller in size than those of white partridges, and, as a rule, do not exceed 60-90 individuals. The most common are flocks of 5-10 birds. In places where they live together, white and tundra partridges often stay in the same flocks; the ratio of species in this case, as a rule, is in favor of the former. Living in mixed flocks, tundra partridges largely adopt the behavior traits of white partridges: they stay in stages that are not typical for them - willow forests, become more cautious and, in case of danger, are guided by the reaction of their more “vigilant” relatives. The tundra partridges themselves are very trusting birds: in every second case, even a relatively large flock of them can be approached quite openly to 40-50 meters before they begin to show signs of anxiety. Solitary birds allow a person to approach even closer, and it is often possible to approach them by 5-10 m. If you do not make sudden movements, the birds do not take off, but try to run away.

Tundra partridges are silent. Only during the breeding season or on the eve of it can you hear the male’s voice, reminiscent of a booming “Crrrr...”. The female makes quiet moaning sounds.

The favorite habitats of tundra partridges are rocky tundras, characterized by alternating stone placers and areas with grassy, ​​moss, lichen or sparse shrub cover. In lowland tundras, partridges usually stay on the tops and slopes of hills. These birds avoid thickets of bushes during the snowless period. In winter, the distribution of partridges is determined by areas of the tundra bare of snow, where the birds can find food. In many areas they migrate from the breeding area. In wintering areas, they stick to shrubs (alder forests, dwarf birches, dwarf cedar thickets, and, less commonly, willow forests), since their buds and catkins form the basis of the birds’ diet during this period.

The diet of tundra partridges within their range is very diverse. During the snowless period, the basis of the diet consists of seeds of various plants, flowers and leaves of blueberries, blueberries, andromeda, bulbs of viviparous buckwheat, berries, leaves and stems of crowberries, blueberries, lingonberries and bearberries, leaves of dryad and various types willows, moss boxes. In the north Far East Along with the listed foods, birds eat dwarf pine nuts. Animal food is rare in the diet of adult partridges, more often in chicks, although they are not as important in their diet as in other grouse birds.

Tundra partridges are monogamous. Birds become sexually mature by the end of the first year of life. In spring, the male occupies a nesting site, which protects it from invasion by others. First of all, birds occupy territories freed from snow. As a rule, males display in the morning and evening hours.

The timing of nesting is determined by the geographical location of the area and weather conditions in the spring. The nest is primitive and differs little from the nests of other grouse birds. Usually the female makes a nest in an open place among stones or low shrubs, sometimes among hummocks; the mottled grayish color of the female’s plumage makes her invisible against the background of the surrounding area. The size of a complete clutch usually ranges from 5 to 9 eggs, although in some cases it may be larger.Incubation duration is 20 days.The chicks leave the nest a few hours after hatching. One-day old chicks weigh 13-14 g. The chicks grow quickly and at the age of 10 days they can already flutter, and after one and a half to two months they reach the size of their parents.

In most of their range, tundra partridges make seasonal migrations. The direction of migration of partridges is determined primarily by the direction of the river beds along whose valleys the partridges migrate.The return of tundra partridges to their nesting sites is timed to coincide with the beginning of intense snow melting.

Woodcock

This bird is widespread throughout the forest zone of the CIS, with the exception of its northern strip. Winters in South and Central Asia and southern Europe, partly in Crimea, and the Caucasus. Woodcock arrives in April. Soon after arrival, the draft begins - the woodcock's current. The craving begins at sunset, continues until dark and stops briefly, resuming at dawn.

This pine sandpiper nests in dense and dark forests, rich in ravines, country roads and wet lowlands. It feeds mainly on soil invertebrates (worms and insect larvae), which it extracts from soft soil with its long beak, and in smaller quantities on plant food.

The female incubates and raises the chicks alone. Having barely dried, the chicks can run and feed on their own. In case of danger, the female carries them through the air, pinching them between her legs.

Hunting for woodcock is especially interesting in the spring - “in the spring,” but catching this type of upland game also available in summer and autumn.

Pigeons

Of the representatives of this order, the wood pigeon vityuten is most often found in our country. Pigeons are common in the European part of the CIS, Western Siberia, east to the Irtysh and in Central Asia. Migrant. Appears at the end of April May. Soon after arrival, it builds a nest on a tree (mostly CONIFEROUS) or finds a suitable (empty) crow. Both parents participate in incubating the eggs and in all other care of the chicks. Young chicks are completely helpless. Adult birds feed them by regurgitating “goiter milk”. Grown-up young animals, like adults, feed on plant foods. In autumn, wood pigeons often fly to the fields to feed. They drink often and willingly, flying to a watering hole in the same place several times a day. Wood pigeons spend the night in tall trees.

In addition to the wood pigeon, other pigeons are also found in the hunting grounds of our country - smaller and of less importance for fishing and amateur hunting: Rock Dove, Clint, Common and Ringed Doves and etc.