Margo Wayman

 

Birds of Egypt Word Search L I T T L E O W L L E L L R F V E R O I C B E R U D C A L E P I E H E U S U T H D G U L E K G M R T V T F E R L O T I E R B L S A G U P O A A A L K K T E A J F O N E E P Y D I L E N W R O G L L E Q M P R E M D L C T E O T O R N C B G U Q U T L E T O L T E L R T P E F D Y A U I L D I L T I L B E S S E A A C P E A E A R N T E A E N D E K L T F J T B I E R H K G R U X E K N C I E O L I G H O K T P V G Q O E E B A C E N D A K M N O R E H E L P R U P L A E P U N S W Y L F C Z N K X G O N B N V R I G W O G N I M A L F R E T A E R G P L O N D J I R W M T Z Y L L U G P S H J O I Q B A Y D G I F G T K I H A Z T U S E R U T L U V N A I Z P Y G E T N E E B Q G A U P Y R N A I Z P G K F X Q R D P L O V E R E J M L O X S O U E H L N L E C S A V B H F B D I C M J A V T E P S A N D P I P E R W A R C B WORD LIST FOR PUZZLE Quail Egyptian vulture Little owl Little Green Bee-eater Desert lark Egyptian goose Greater flamingo Black stork Purple heron Egret Pelican Falcon Eagle Gull Tern Pink headed dove Sandpiper Plover A Kid's Crossword Puzzle.  Click Here Bird Necklace Below is a simplified version of a beautiful Jeweled Collar found in the Tomb of King Tutankhamen (Tut) (1333-1323 BC) Directions Color the jewels and paste the picture to heavier paper or cardboard. But along the dotted lines.  In order to wear as a necklace, put string through holders. Download the picture to print here Match Game Download the match game page here. Write each of the words from the word list onto separate smaller pieces of paper. Fold up and put into a bowl. Hand out M&M’s, jellybeans, or some other edible ‘markers’ to each child. Pick a word out of the bowl and read it. If that child has that word on their card, they place a marker on it. When someone gets all the words in a row, they call out Bingo! This Month's Story A BUZZARD’S SORE EYES Bassam was soaring thru the powder blue sky, flying in and out of the puffy white clouds, feeling the warm sunshine on his light brown feathers. He was busy daydreaming, not really paying attention to what was around him. A gust of hot air blew at him fiercely and he came to alertness. Coming towards him quickly was a wall of sand. Soon he was engulfed in it as the grains blasted at his beak, eyes and wings. He fought his way through the sandstorm, struggling until he was once again in the clear blue sky. He shook his wings and sand fell out of them, but he couldn’t get the sand out of his eyes. They were very sore. He rubbed them but it didn’t help. Flying high, he looked down at the coral pink sand below, hoping to see something to eat. Buzzards only eat dead animals, so he had to look carefully for piles of bones. Samad, the snake, slithered up onto a rock, warmed by the sun, to gather heat after his meal, which was a plump, juicy mouse. He closed his eyes and fell asleep. Bassam, from above, spotted Samad on the rock. Thinking that the snake was dead he swooped down and scooped up the snake in his beak. Samad opened his eyes. He started hissing angrily. When Bassam realized Samad was alive and mad, he dropped him onto the sand below. Samad landed with a splat on a sand dune near the river. He looked up at Bassam and hissed and hissed. Bassam flapped his wings and flew up high into the sky. He rubbed his sore eyes, hoping to get more sand out. He couldn’t believe he mistook Samad for a dead snake. When he was high up in the sky, he swooped in and out of the clouds, looking for something else that he could eat. Oma, the ostrich, was standing next to a date palm. She was looking at her feathers. They were so beautiful and delicate. Suddenly Bassam swooped down and grabbed Oma’s neck, thinking she was a carcass with feathers on it. He tried to pull her up into the air with his beak but she was too heavy. Oma started squawking and pecked at Bassam’s beak. The buzzard let go and flew up into the air. He had several of Oma’s feathers caught in his beak. He spit them out and they fluttered slowly downward, landing near Oma’s long, muscular feet. Bassam rubbed his sore eyes and a little more sand came out. Oh, did they hurt. He couldn’t believe he mad that same mistake. He flapped his wings and flew up into the clouds. He sat on one, looking down at the ground below him. His eyes were still a little blurry but Bassam was sure he spotted something dead. He flew down quickly to the carcass. Fayad, the fox, was standing in the sand, just outside of his burrow. He was yawning and stretching after his long nap. As he let out a huge yawn he saw a shadow appear on the sand in front of him. He looked up just in time to see Bassam’s beak wide open and headed right for him. He put his paws up in front of his face as Bassam’s beak encircled him. Fayad growled and wriggled his body angrily as Bassam flew up into the sky with the fox held tightly in his beak. Fayad growled some more and hit Bassam in the face with his fluffy tail. Realizing what he had done, Bassam dropped Fayad. Fayad fell to the ground and landed right in a cactus bush. The prickles and thorns tore into his fur and flesh. He growled angrily and held up a fist to Bassam. He climbed out of the cactus bush and started to pull the sharp, pointed thorns from his fur. Bassam couldn’t believe it. That was three times he thought he’d been picking up a dead animal only to find all three were alive. Feeling bad he headed for the river. He scooped up some river water with his wings and splashed it into his eyes. He took a little drink, shook the water off of him and smiled. He felt much better now. He started flapping his wings and flew up into the puffy clouds. Swooping up and down through the white cotton-ball clouds, he gazed down to the ground. At last he could see everything clear. At last he had his keen eyesight back. Finally, he spotted a dead carcass laying a few yards from the opposite side of the riverbank. He flew down to it, swooped around it a few times to make sure it was not alive, then began to nibble on it. Finally, he was able to eat! GIGGLES OF MISCHIEF "Hee, hee, hee," giggled Faruk as he hid in the bushes that surrounded the pond. He watched the rest of the flock as they gathered at the lake’s shallow edges. It was feeding time and soon it would be time to sleep. The sun sank behind the horizon, casting its rays into the darkening sky. The evening sunset was ablaze with bright, vivid oranges and pinks that reflected off the flock’s pink feathers, making each flamingo glow like burning embers of a dying fire. Soon all the flamingos, except Faruk, had their long, sinewy necks curled onto their soft, feathered backs. Their curved, black-tipped, yellow bills nestled into the feathers, and soon all were asleep. Each stood on one long, spindly leg, while the other was tucked under their body. Faruk began to giggle again, "Hee, hee, hee." He snuck out from behind the bush where he’d been hiding and moved silently towards Abdul, another flamingo. As he neared him, he covered his bill with his wing and softly giggled, "Hee, hee, hee." His webbed feet sunk into the mud as he approached the water’s edge. He had to be careful not to splash as he waded out to Abdul. When he was close enough, he took his strong leg and kicked Abdul’s leg. It bent at the knee and Abdul fell backwards into the water. Abdul woke up squawking, his wings flailing about. He was splashing and making a lot of noise. Faruk ran as fast as he could and hid behind the bush before the other flamingos saw what he’d done. The whole flock looked at Abdul angrily for waking them all up. He stood up, shook the water out of his feathers and looked around. How had he fallen? He wondered for a few minutes, then unable to figure out a reason, he tucked his head down, lifted his leg and carefully placed it under his body, and fell asleep. The rest of the flock did the same. Faruk giggled, "Hee, hee, hee," as he hid behind the bush. When he saw that all the flock was asleep, he crept up towards Fatima, a beautiful female flamingo. She was sleeping soundly, her beautiful orange eyes shut tightly. Faruk gazed at her as he crept towards her. His webbed feet made sucking noises in the mud, but as soon as he reached the water, it turned to silence. He moved closer to Fatima. He started to giggle, "Hee, hee, hee." He hurried and put his wing up over his bill so the noise wouldn’t wake her up. The water was a little deeper here than where Abdul had stood. Faruk crept closer and closer. He reached over and pushed Fatima’s leg with his. It collapsed and she went down into the water. Quickly he ran back to the bush and hid. Fatima began to cough and choke as she gulped down the lake water. Her wings went out to the side and she splashed all the other flamingos standing around her. The whole flock woke up. Abdul looked over at Fatima. He wondered how she’d fallen into the water, like he had. Fatima stood back up and looked around at the other birds. They were glaring angrily at her. She looked over at Abdul. He shrugged his wings at her, then went back to sleep. The whole flock went back to sleep. Fatima looked around. She couldn’t imagine why she’d fallen over. Not being able to come up with an answer, she went to sleep. Faruk hid behind the bush. He giggled and giggled. "Hee, hee, hee. Hee, hee, hee," he went. His long neck bobbed up and down as he chuckled to himself. He waited a few minutes to make sure all the other flamingos were sleeping. He spotted Ahmed standing off by himself. His eyes were shut tightly and he was making some soft snoring sounds. Faruk knew he was asleep. He came out from behind the bushes and ever so quietly walked towards Ahmed. He moved so slowly, trying to be very, very quiet. His feet made the sucking noises in the mud again. He stopped to make sure that none of the other flamingos woke up. Satisfied, he moved quickly towards the water. He crept slowly towards Ahmed. The water swirled around his long legs as he moved. He stood in front of Ahmed and softly giggled. "Hee, hee, hee," he went. Ahmed stood silently as Faruk knocked him down into the water. Startled, he hit the water and fell underneath. His long legs went up into the air. Faruk ran and hid behind the bush. Ahmed bobbed up to the top of the lake and started squawking and coughing. Water gushed out of his beak as he coughed loudly. The whole flock woke up. This time they were very angry. That was three times they had been woken up. What was going on here, Abdul thought. That’s three birds in one night. First it was him, then Fatima, then Ahmed. This had never happened before. Ahmed stood up and received angry glares from all the other flamingos. They squawked at him and some even splashed water at him. He moved further into the lake, off by himself, then shook the water out of his feathers. He looked around at the others. He looked at the bushes, but couldn’t see anything. He even looked up into the sky. He could not figure out how he fell. He thought he must have been dreaming. Without solving the puzzle, he fell asleep. The others finally settled down and dozed off once more, all but Abdul. He was determined to find out what was going on. He pretended to go to sleep. He tucked his head on his back, he lifted his leg and put it under his body, but he didn’t shut his eyes. Behind the bush, Faruk was giggling once more. "Hee, hee, hee," he went. "Hee, hee, hee." He was having so much fun. He thought he’d play that trick on one more bird, then go to sleep himself. He was getting tired. He came out from behind the bush and slowly crept up the muddy shore of the lake towards Sara. She was sleeping soundly. Her feathers glowed in the bright moonlight. As Faruk crept towards Sara, Abdul watched. He saw that it was Faruk. Now it all made sense. Now he knew what was going on. He stood quietly as Faruk moved into the water. He didn’t make a noise as Faruk knocked Sara into the water and ran back into the bush. Sara fell deep into the water. Her long neck flew backwards, water ran into her bill, and she came up coughing and squawking and kicking her legs as she tried to find her balance. This time all the flamingos had enough. They were all angry. Since none of them had been able to sleep much, they decided to stay awake and feed at night for a while. All the birds began to stick their bills upside down into the water and scoop up algae and little fish. Abdul watched Faruk. Faruk was hiding in the bushes, giggling as he watched Sara stand up and look around. He thought it was funny that she didn’t know what had happened, or why she’d ended up in the water. After she’d shaken off her wings she began to feed with the others. Faruk giggled, "Hee, hee, hee. Hee, hee, hee." He soon realized that none of the birds were going to go back to sleep. His tricks were over for the night. He came out from behind the bush and mingled with the other flamingos; but Faruk was sleepy. Instead of feeding, he curled his long neck and bill up on his back, tucked his leg under him and fell asleep. Abdul decided it was time to teach Faruk a lesson. He moved over towards the sleeping bird. The other birds were all busy feeding so they didn’t even notice what he was doing. He moved closer, his webbed feet made all kinds of sucking noises in the mud, but he didn’t care. He splashed in the water and came right up to the exhausted Faruk. Without hesitating, he kicked Faruk’s leg, which folded up as Faruk fell into the water. Abdul ran off behind the bush. Faruk coughed and coughed, and choked as the water rushed into his bill, and into his eyes, and down his long neck. His webbed feet flew up into the air. Mud stuck to his beautiful wings as he struggled to stand up. None of the other birds helped. None of them were paying attention. Faruk finally got to his feet, and shook the water off. He looked around at all the other birds. Nobody seemed to notice what was going on. As Faruk stood there in confusion, he heard, from behind the bush, "Hee, hee, hee. Hee, hee, hee." Birds of Egypt Recipes This month, instead of doing recipes about birds, we’re going to do recipes that you can make for the birds that live in your area. Try them. All of these recipes are good for most kinds of birds, not just the ones mentioned in the titles. The first three recipes are for children to eat themselves. White Chocolate Birds Nests 2 c. chow mein noodles 2 c. corn flakes, crushed white chocolate small gourmet jelly beans In bowl, mix noodles, cereal. Melt white chocolate, pour over cereal and noodles, coating them. Put by spoonfuls onto waxed paper. Indent to shape like nests. When hardened add jelly beans into indentations for eggs. Flamingo Fodder 1 small box of Cheerios or other donut-shaped cereal Chocolate chips – 12 oz is preferable Butterscotch chips – 12 oz size Peanut butter chips – 12 oz size M&M’s plain – two individual sized bags 1 c. raisins 1 c. mixed nuts This one is for kids, who want to pretend to be birds. Combine ingredients, and put in ziplock bags. As kids are hiking, or perhaps ‘bird-watching’ they can nibble on their Flamingo fodder. Owl Snacks Creamy peanut butter 1 rice or popcorn cake 2 banana slices 2 raisins for eyeballs 6 fruit loops (or other ringed cereal) 1 cheese triangle Spread the peanut butter on the rice or popcorn cake. Put the two banana slices on for the owl’s eyes. Put the raisins, one on each banana slice to make the eye ball. Push it in a little so it will stay. Add the six loops above the bananas to make eye brows. Add the cheese triangle under the banana to form the beak. Now you have your owl snack. Ostrich Muffins 1 - 8 1/2 oz box of Corn Muffin Mix 1 c. acorn squash, cooked and mashed 3 eggs with their shells, broken into pieces 3 carrots, cooked and mashed 1 stalk broccoli, cooked and mashed ¼ c. ground nuts or seeds 3 handfuls of bird seed, any kind ¼ t. baking soda ¼ c. sesame seeds ¼ c. flax seed ¼ c. kelp ¼ c. wheat germ Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin tin with cupcake wrappers. Mix all ingredients. Spoon into cupcake wrappers to top. Bake for 25 minutes. Let cool, then freeze them. Serve one half of one muffin per day. Sand Partidge Pancakes Make up your favorite pancake mix. Before cooking add, chopped apples and birdseed. Cook them as you would normally cook pancakes, about 2" in diameter. Cool, freeze, and feed birds one per day. Brown-necked Raven Beans Take one can of garbonzo beans, drain, spread out on a cookie sheet. Bake at 350’ for 25-30 minutes until crispy looking. Cool for ten minutes and feed to birds. They will love them. Pelican Prize In a large bowl mix ½ c. of raw oatmeal. Chop up ¼ c. almonds, and add ¼ c. of as many of these other items: granola, crispy rice cereal, cheerios, raisins, chopped prunes, dates, apricots, dried cranberries, bird seed. Stir in some peanut butter, about 2T. and mix well. Shape into balls and refrigerate. Feed to birds as desired. Yellow Wagtail Walnut Balls 1 1/3c. wheat germ 2 c. raisins ¾ c. chopped walnuts 8 graham crackers, crushed 1 ½ c. peanut butter 4 T. honey chopped peanuts Put all ingredients into bowl. Mix until blended. Roll into balls and roll in chopped peanuts. Freeze or refrigerate. Sunbirdie Bread 2 c. cornmeal 2 c. flour 2 c. oatmeal 2 c. frozen mixed vegetables (with corn, carrots, lima beans, peas) 1 T. baking powder 3 eggs, with shells 2 c. sugar free juice Mix together, put into 9x13 pan for 30 minutes, 350’. Cut Into small squares. Freeze each square and take out as needed. Egyptian Vulture Delights 2 T. cracked wheat 2 c. seven grain cereal 1 c. oatmeal 2 t. baking powder 1 c. chopped cranberries orange juice 1 c. flour Mix, using orange juice to make moist, drop onto cookie sheet. Bake 375’ until golden brown. Goliath Heron Haystacks 1 small sweet potato or 1 jar sweet potato baby food 1 c. frozen corn 1 c. frozen peas ½ c. chopped walnuts 1 hard boiled egg 1 c. chopped cooked chicken or turkey Mix ingredients together. Can add some cornbread, apple also. Feed to birds. Egyptian Goose Pizza Make up your favorite pizza crust. Spread on pizza pan. Top with ½ c. shredded cheese, ¼ c. carrots, and sprinkle with bird seed. Warm until cheese melts. Cut into pieces and feed to birds. See also Color Me Egypt, Just for Kids.  Our children's section has stories by Margo Wayman as well as other activities.