The school garden was busier than ever today. Bilge stopped for a moment instead of playing and listened to the sky. Different sounds were rising from the branches of the trees. Some were whistling thinly, others were chirping joyfully. Bilge was very curious about the owners of these sounds.

Bilge's best friend Ege ran up to her. “What are you looking at?” he asked. Bilge pointed to the branches above with her finger. “Look at those birds Ege, they all make such different sounds,” she said. Ege looked up curiously, and they began to watch together.

“Let's catch them!” Ege said excitedly. But Bilge shook her head. “No, we shouldn't scare them. Watching from a distance is much more fun,” she said. The two friends crouched behind a bench and began to observe the birds silently. The birds hopped on the branches without noticing the children were there.

Bilge took a colorful notebook and a pen out of her bag. “We should write down which bird comes when,” she said. Just then, a tiny yellow bird landed on a branch. Bilge looked at the watch on her arm and noted it down in big letters in her notebook.

Ege also joined the observations. He noticed a gray pigeon perched on the school wall in the afternoon. “Look Bilge, this bird didn't come this morning!” he said. They realized that some birds appeared early in the morning, while others appeared as the sun went down.

Their observations continued for several days. Finally, Bilge and Ege transferred all the information they had collected onto a large cardboard sheet. They prepared a chart with colored pencils. It was now clearly visible which bird came at what time.

Their teacher, Ms. Selin, was very impressed when she saw the chart they had prepared. “You have done wonderful research, children,” she said. Then she gave them an idea: “Well, how about comparing these observations of yours with the books in the library?”

While Ege was wandering among the library shelves, he found a huge, illustrated bird encyclopedia. Ms. Selin came over and helped him open the book. They were very excited to find the exact same birds they saw in the garden on the pages of the book.

Bilge and Ege compared their own notes one by one with the information in the books. “Look, it says here why sparrows are so active in the mornings!” said Bilge. They were surprised to see how well their own observations matched the information in the book.

Now they knew why birds came at certain times; they all moved according to their feeding and resting times. Bilge had discovered that not just looking, but observing carefully was a wonderful way to explore the world.

Now, every morning when Bilge goes out into the garden, she first takes a deep breath and turns her head to the sky. Every flapping bird meant a new story waiting to be discovered for her. The sky had become her greatest teacher.