The day before the weekend, children in class could only talk about what the weather would be like on Sunday, whether a thaw would come or the frost would hold. When Petya woke up in the morning, the first thing he did was go to the window and look at the outdoor thermometer—it was -4 degrees. Frost! Hooray! The kids grabbed their skis, poles, and put sandwiches and sweet hot tea in thermoses in their backpacks. Tatyana Ivanovna, Petya's dad Vova, got ready for the trip too; they also took their skis with them.
At nine o'clock in the morning, the electric train brought the children to the forest. The children put on their skis and walked along a well-worn path that someone had left as a ski trail before their arrival. In the winter forest, there was silence, with only the creaking of large snow-covered spruces audible and the occasional sound of bird calls.
That's probably a flock of sparrows
Katya suggested.
No, those are crossbills. Sparrows don't live in forests; they live in cities and villages, so you can't hear their chirping in the forest. And tits only live in the forest in summer; they fly to the city for winter. Crossbills and woodpeckers winter in the forest,
Tatyana Ivanovna explained.
The children stopped to rest a bit, and Tatyana Ivanovna began counting the children. Vasya was missing, so Petya's dad quickly went back along the path and soon returned with an angry Vasily.
Can you imagine, Tatyana Ivanovna, what this nature enemy did? He took off his skis and climbed a tree.
Petya's dad Vova reported.
Why did you climb up there? You could have fallen
Katya said worriedly.
I just wanted to get the nest for my collection. Besides, the nest is empty anyway—the chicks grew up and flew south
Vasya explained.
That's not true, Vasya
Tatyana Ivanovna objected.
Next spring, the birds will start building new nests and will use material from old nests. So the nest you wanted to take will be very useful to the birds, and Katya was right—you could have fallen from the tree and gotten hurt.
Tatyana Ivanovna told the children that bird nests should not be touched; it's better to draw them or photograph them. After all, nests can contain not only forest debris but also bird parasites that are dangerous to humans.
Together they moved on and stopped for a break near noon. The children collected dry twigs. Petya's dad built a fire and melted snow in a pot so the children could wash their hands before eating. When all the sandwiches were eaten, Tatyana Ivanovna asked the children to collect the bags into one large bag and put it in the backpack.
Why not just burn the bags in the fire?
Anton asked in surprise.
There wouldn't even be a trace left.
The bags will burn, but the dangerous smoke from burning plastic will pollute the clean air in the forest
Petya's dad Vova explained.
It's better to throw the collected trash in a garbage container, and we can leave the bread scraps in the forest.
The birds will peck at it
Petya figured it out.
Birds, squirrels, and mice—life continues in the forest even in winter. Animals are just afraid of people and try to hide.
The children decided to behave very carefully. After resting a bit more, everyone headed back to the electric train because they had to go home. Both the children and adults were pleased with their walk through the winter forest.
