Observing Nature

Keeping a journal of outdoor surroundings is not a new idea. The Victorians were crazy about all things nature. During the second half of the 19th century the middle class found the study of nature not only interesting, but very fashionable.

During this time museums, scientific and nature lectures and botanical gardens all became the rage. In this way, and in writings of the time, the general public became enamored of nature. It was common to find sea shells, feathers, and minerals in drawing rooms, and upon mantles.

I guess my first experience in nature journal was when I took a community college class called Birds of the Region. I was still new to Arizona in 1982, and bird watching sounded fun to me. As part of the course, we had to choose a project. I chose "Study Area Report". For this project I needed to choose an area near me, and observe once a week for about an hour. I needed to keep a record of the weather, and my observations.

I chose a forested area near our cabin. I still remember the quiet hours I spent in that spot. This is a page from my project. (Yes, of course, I still have it!)

One of my favorite examples of a nature journal is a published book called The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady, by Edith Holden. Edith kept this diary in 1906, and inside you find lovely drawings and "nature notes" as she calls them. She includes poetry that is inspired by the time of year.

These are all examples from that book. I love to look at the book, as the year passes by, and read the entries, the poems and admire her art work.

After a dear family friend passed away in 2002, I was given his field notebook. It is not really a nature journal, but I love his drawings. He had advanced degrees in biology and related fields. I am thinking this notebook was from the early 1950's.

In a short time you will see how much better his drawings are than mine!

One weekend, in the fall of 2011, I and two of my friends decided to attempt a Victorian nature weekend. We donned our period clothing, and took to the woods. While there, we created nature journals, and spent a good part of one day hiking, observing, and recording what we saw. All in full period dress, and even corsets! We used pen and ink to make our entries.

Here we are! Tigger went too, to protect us from bears!

We actually "made" the books ahead of time. Well, we re-purposed old books by covering them with leather, and adding metal corners. We tea dyed some paper and used this for pages.

Photos from that weekend - working on our journals in the great out of doors using pen and ink. This is my friend, Pattie.

I used resource books to help me with my cursive, and to help me draw pictures

(I know - cheating !!!)

Here are some sample entries of my home made nature journal from that weekend.

It is nice to include feathers.

Later I added some photos to the back of the book. Now it is a lovely memory book

of a fun weekend spent with good friends.

I have a nature journal now. It is in my bedroom, near a window, where I can record what goes on in my ever interesting back yard.

I began it after a very interesting nature walk I took in Michigan in 2014.

After that, I went on a trip to England and Ireland, so I recorded the

birds I saw while I was there in the same book.

Then I figured I may as well start documenting my back yard observations. Just for fun.

See what I mean about my drawings? Oh dear....

It is good to have a record of when you have a white Christmas, when you live in AZ!

I add photos sometimes. Like this towee who kept trying to get into the kitchen!

So, when we are waiting for rain, or we thing the frogs are singing earlier than last year, or I am wishing the White Crowned Sparrows would return, I can just look back and find out when it all happened last year! Sometimes I may go a few months between entries, but always something interesting happens back there.

Here is what I wrote this year, on August 17:

Last night (well, this morning) at 0430 I took the dogs out. The Morning Glories were blooming! It was pitch dark! How did they know? Then, an owl hooted.