In the days leading up to the weekend, the children in class could talk of nothing but what the weather would be like on Sunday—whether it would warm up or stay frosty. When Petya woke up that morning, the first thing he did was go to the window and check the outdoor thermometer. It read -4 degrees. Frost! Excellent! The kids grabbed their skis and poles, packed sandwiches and sweet hot tea in thermoses into their rucksacks. Tatyana Ivanovna, Petya's dad Vova, got ready for the trip as well, and they brought their skis too.
At nine o'clock in the morning, the electric train brought the children to the forest. The kids put on their skis and set off along the well-worn track that someone had left before their arrival. In the winter forest, there was silence, broken only by the creaking of large snow-laden firs and the occasional calls of birds.
That must be a flock of sparrows
Katya suggested.
No, those are crossbills. Sparrows don't live in forests—they live in towns and villages, so you won't hear their chirping in the forest. And blue tits only live in the forest in summer; they fly to town for winter. Crossbills and woodpeckers winter in the forest,
Tatyana Ivanovna explained.
The children stopped to rest for a bit, and Tatyana Ivanovna began counting the children. Vasya was missing. Petya's dad quickly went back along the track and soon returned with an angry Vasily.
Can you believe it, Tatyana Ivanovna, what this nature vandal did? He took off his skis and climbed up a tree.
Petya's dad Vova reported.
Why did you climb up there? You could have fallen
Katya said, worried.
I just wanted to get the nest for my collection. Besides, the nest is empty anyway—the chicks have grown up and flown south
Vasya explained.
That's not quite right, Vasya
Tatyana Ivanovna objected.
Come spring, the birds will start building new nests and will use material from old ones. So the nest you wanted to take will be very useful to the birds. And Katya was right—you could have fallen out of the tree and hurt yourself.
Tatyana Ivanovna told the children that bird nests should never be touched; it's better to sketch them or take photographs. After all, nests can contain not just forest debris, but also bird parasites that can be dangerous to humans.
They all continued on together and stopped for lunch around midday. The children gathered dry twigs. Petya's dad built a fire, melted snow in a pot so the children could wash their hands before eating. When all the sandwiches had been eaten, Tatyana Ivanovna asked the children to collect the wrappers into one large bag and put it in the rucksack.
Why not just burn the wrappers in the fire?
Anton asked in surprise.
There wouldn't be a trace left.
The wrappers will burn, but the dangerous fumes from burning plastic will spoil the clean air in the forest
Petya's dad Vova explained.
It's better to take the rubbish we've collected to a bin, and we can leave the leftover bread in the forest.
The birds will eat it
Petya figured out.
Birds, squirrels, mice—life in the forest continues even in winter. The animals are just frightened of people and try to hide.
The children decided to behave very carefully. After resting a bit more, they all headed back to the train, as they needed to get home. Both the children and the adults were pleased with their walk through the winter forest.
