This was a perfect day to sit on my deck and make my first journal entry, it's not much but spring is only at it's very beginning, can't wait for the coming weeks when everything comes to life.   

(This is in my driveway)

I loved my sit spot experience! I went down to the back garden of my building, a patch of grass with a few concrete steps framed by other residential buildings from the block. It had snowed the night before, so I’ll be honest, I couldn’t sit out for the whole duration of the session, so some notes I memorised as best I could and noted them down the second I was back upstairs in my warm flat. I thought I’d at least sit on the bench, but I forgot they’d moved it elsewhere, so I was literally sitting in the snow. It was lovely, though. I was alone, it was twilight, almost dark but not quite just yet, and the snow made things brighter all around. No one was there, so I could really sink into the silence and listen with all my senses. Looking and listening are those that come easier, while smelling is the most tricky of all. Then, as I looked around, I found myself drawing the view right in front of me. It was nothing special, just bare trees and a few buildings. It was cool. I really want to have more sit spot experiences in my usual nature spots around my house at different times of the day. It’s a great way to look at habitual places with new eyes.

Cold, but fun and satisfying. I sat on our back deck for a little over 20 minutes.  Saw some bird behavior I would not have seen if I had just been passing through. Heard more clearly than when I'm walking. Wind sounds were more complex than I realized.

So on 12/31 (New Years Eve) I went for a walk at San Eliljo Lagoon (Cardiff, CA). Just as I was going to sit for my "bird sit" I heard geese! There they are in formation (There were actually a lot more. I took a photo with my phone and drew the picture from the photo). Hope you can tell those are geese :) A few minutes later a Great Egret flew by! Lots of birds that day. Great Place.

1. Sitting is one of my favorite things to do in the garden. Gardening - digging, carrying, cutting, etc. - is hard work and I need to take a 5 (or 10 or 20 or 30) now and then. Paying attention and making notes was new, though. First I drew a picture of the chair I always move to the spot I'm working on. I guess the birds are used to me because a great tit came to check on me right away when I chose my spot. I planned to sit for 15 min, but when it started to rain, I had sat for 50 min. It was quite silent at this time of the day, but I didn't notice the passage of time at all!   2. I tend to see little things and details but often don't perceive the big picture, so I decided to draw one part of my view to the overgrown and semi-wild flowerbed. I heard and/or saw six bird species. Two European robins were calling each other from the opposite sites of the garden. It was a lovely moment to notice how the tone of the calls changed when one flew to the other. I have never realized how loud the light rain is!  Writing a journal by hand is out of my box, too. My handwriting is so poor I have been avoiding it.

The Color of the water wasn’t blue. It reflected the Color of the tree and vegetation around. Few bird’s sang but even if the water’s level was low the sound of it was noticeable. The rocks first look beige-grey but when I look closer there was pink value in it.

My handwriting is poor. I hope I'll be able to read it in a month. Jul 21,2024 /78 F, cloudy, cooled by the last night's rain Bluebird and sparrow bathed together. My first time noticing it today. The Painted Bunting was snacking on the weed seeds on the SW corner fence. The scissor-tailed flycatchers were busy tending the nest in the Loblolly Pine SW of the house. I see movement in the nest. Bluebirds (10-15) were busy gathering bugs and rough guesses on numbers. There was a yellowtail swallowtail butterfly on the tall phlox. It was the first yellowtail I've seen this year. No caterpillars on the dill. Only two hummers coming to the feeder. I recorded sounds with Merlin.

I sat out on the back porch.  We have 2 birdfeeds about a foot from the porch railing and a humming bird feeder at the base of the steps.  Out about 30 yards from the porch is an apple tree and a corn pile.  Along the side of the porch is the drop off that leads to the creek.  I have noticed that the birds tend to go to the apple tree and the Buckeye tree the most.  While I was sitting there I saw cardinals, humming birds, titmice starlings, house finches, nuthatches mourning doves, blue jays and a Red-bellied woodpecker.    I noted that the cardinals and titmice were least bothered by my sitting there , and the nuthatches flew off every time they spotted me.  The Red-belled Woodpecker not only flew off but noisly scolded me.  I periodically turned on my Merlin bird sound ID and 12 different birds were identified including an Acadian Flycatcher, an Eastern Wood-Pewee, a Carolina Wren and a Red-tailed Hawk along with the more common birds I was observing.  (I have not included any journal pages as my internet is acting up today.) Along with the birds, the squirrels were putting on a show down by the corn pile.  There was so much going on, that it was hard to focus on anyone thing.  However, it is very relaxing and the time just flies.

I was out there an hour and it felt like 15 minutes!  So many sights and sounds.  Can't wait to do more!

I heard a lot of birdsong including sparrows and I saw a red winged blackbird fly by. I like drawing and sketching flowers.. haven't tried drawing birds much yet.

I realize, looking at my drawing(s) that I prefer the up-close approach and the broad sweep drawings are a little more "outside the box" for me.  But it was delightlful to sit outside and just observe.  Surprised at how fast the time went by.  Fun class!

a little of birding in the window of the office  

Pretty cold up here in Quebec  today. Went out early with my ornithology club but too cold to sit in one spot. Many migration birds, a marvelous sight. Back home, sat in my kitchen and observed the birds coming at the feeder outside. Noted my sensations and surroundings and attempted a few live sketches. Was like a plentiful meditation. This is our last day of true winter and snow here, and it gave us the most beautiful day before it departs for another year.

Sunny and 60ish degrees - I was amazed by the amount of activity in a sit spot in my own backyard.  There were at least 9 different types of birds in just 20 minutes - at first just a few and then many on the ground, in the trees, up on the roof.  Their different songs filled the air.  Bird music!!  A rabbit ran between the quail walking across the yard.  Slowly I noticed the different hues of the trees - brilliant greens, with yellows and browns.  I felt the slight breeze and heard a few pods drop on the ground from the tree above.  I noticed all the different types of leaves, needles, etc covering the ground around me.  And now there are so many flowers starting to bloom.   I can't wait to do this again in other places.

It's still winter in the area of my home location on February 19, 2024. Its also Family Day, a holiday. The sun is shinning no clouds in the sky. The wind is from the North at km/hr. The temperature is -6.4C. I am viewing from the Studio, looking S/SE. The Sunlight feels warm, and reflects off the snow, blinding white. The snow is melting off the roof, slow drips on the deck below. The water is melting and moving to the downspouts, while pouring  our the down converters. Looking at the bird feeders, the Junco comes by, then the chickadee's flittering back and forth. I was out earlier feeling the warmth of the Sunshine, the odd breeze blown, chilly, but good. The buds on the trees are sill tightly bound . though earlier this last week, the sap was running in the maples. The sap water was overpouring the pores and creating sap sickles. Nature is awesome.  Just finished my last bird count for the backyard bird count 2024.

I was at a Florida state park, and found a place to sit along the river.  It was hrd for me to just sit and experience rather than "doing" something.  I was much more tuned into sounds than I have been when actively working on journaling.  When I'm actually journaling , it's my sense of sight that I'm using more.  ITried to tune into other senses like smell and touch but these were harder.

Today, I sat by the water's edge of Seymore Pond in Brewster, MA. I have a home here, so I often sit on my deck in the summer, record the conditions, and write in my journal. But I haven't done it in February on a 30-degree day. I brought my chair down to the beach for a more immersive experience. Today, there is a forlorn mood because everything is a muted grey at various scales. Even the scrub pines' green needles have a grey feel because of the light snow falling and the solid grey sky. Now that I’m back in the house and up above the water at the treen line, the needles are a brighter green, but nothing is vibrant.  The dead trees are coated on the north side with snow from Tuesday’s storm. It is a strange, almost perfect stripe up the sides of the trunks. Despite the lifeless feel, I could see several buffleheads swimming on the opposite side of the pond, and my Merlin app recorded various songbirds, from Cardinals to Carolina wrens. It also caught the song of a common loon. I did spot the female cardinal, but I didn’t see any of the other birds from my spot. Even though it felt forlorn, it also felt peaceful. Before I left, a mallard couple swam nearby, but as soon as they spotted me, they lifted off and flapped away. I folded my chair and walked back up to the house, chilled but satisfied.

I'm enjoying that each lesson has a different intention and theme and each layer on one another. The process is gentle and fun. Its helped me move away from self criticism and enjoy learning.