I went on an early morning first day hike. I used my photos to record what I observed and later at home recorded these in my journal. I could hear the black capped chickadees and saw several in the forest.

I recorded some observations and findings from a local walk around some ponds, local nature trail. I just used pencil and pen for these drawings. I was trying out some different styles to record where I found things, measurement, taxonomy, etc. I am not completely pleased with the result but I think it was a good experiment for me. I am excited to keep trying in this direction. The walk I was on is in Colorado front range, Fort Collins to be exact. The trail goes through a prarie/field habitat with ponds. You see prairie dog colonies, rabbits, blue herons, Canadian Geese, hawks - evidence of nocturnal animals like racoons, owls, etc. On this walk I found a prairie dog skull, dried plants like thistles and tracks preserved in the mud which I attempted to draw. the observations that were easy were the tracks in the mud, the various plants and finding things like the skull. What wasn't easy for me was thinking about it scientifically - I tend to go to beauty factor and awe first before breaking it down to taxonomy and measurement. I played with some journal techniques - I thought it was fun - lots to learn. I am trying to figure out how to organize the page so that it doesn't look so messy and how to organize my writing.  

Today I walked out of my house toward the pond in the center of our complex and spent about 20 minutes from leaving the house to getting to a sit spot to observe. I must say I enjoyed this activity more than I imagined I would. I have taken time to do this before but without a journal. I started seeing, hearing and observing things as soon as I left the house. I was very surprised to have a small insect land on my sketch book in these first weeks of January in the Northeast. As I sat I was treated to see a bird who perched on top of a dormant sapling and got a good look at it as it sat vert quietly, fully turned in my direction. I think it was a Blue Bird because I saw two circular rust colored circles on each side of the breast. I have seen both Blue Birds and Barn Swallows here but I could not find a picture with a Barn Swallow having markings like this. (With this being winter, bird colors will be muted.) But I was so happy to see all that I saw and it spurred me on to wanting to find out more about this particular bird. I would have sat longer but I got cold!! I use this technique with my AP Enviro Sci class. I am having them read and reproduce a nature journal along the lines of Sand County Almanac since out campus is very green and we always come back with a refreshed and re-energized attitude. My question; I find that my sketches are very rudimentary in the outdoors but when I bring things back to look at more closely, my sketches are more realistic. Some of these nature journals I have viewed here are works of art.........I find it hard to think some of these more elegant journals are all done in the field....is this possible???? Or do people set up the outline and then go back to add the color later??? I just find it awesome if this is something they do in a sit spot.

I found visual details easiest to note.  It was early morning, and I was recording observations from inside.  Birds and animals I  noted were mostly quiet.

We are camping beside a marsh and as I walked to look at the water I spotted a decomposing tree with beautiful pale shelf fungi growing on it.  As I sketched I could hear the birds in the area and unfortunately, the cars on a road in the distance.  I am definitely challenged by trying to draw nature in an accurate way. It was great to see the new growth on the dead tree! Nature never quits!

I chose my dining room as my sit spot. It was interesting to observe familiar objects more closely. Drawing the reflections in my salt grinder was a new experience and so was drawing a leafy plant. I thought I might get bored but the time flew by. Both the drawing challenges and the discovery of new shapes were quite captivating.

I thought I went out too late at dusk but I did get to watch 2 hummingbirds trade dinner time at the feeder. Dark fell quickly so I used photos I took of them last year. I was excited to use some texturing tools I recently learned. They move so fast that it took a camera to capture the details I didn’t see otherwise like tiny yellow feathers & pollen coating a long black beak. Chris Jonientz

Observation by MGB from inside home looking  through large south window. _3C today ,light S wind ...white spruce trees swaying in the breeze . Sky partly cloudy with clear blue background . 3 Black capped chickadees at feeder ..grab a sunflower chip and fly to mountain ash the feed ...seed held in claw and pecked at to devour . All trees in "my forest"  covered with hoar frost . Black billed Magpie looking for seed spillage below feeder ...skitsy ..flies away . Red Squirrel perches on art sculpture  surveying his territory ..( constantly driving bird from feeders !) ..a balmy day in Yukon.

Because of the cold weather, I sat at my desk inside. It was fun to have inside sensations while I observed outside scenery. I recorded whatever occurred to me in columns ...each listed with a different sense. When I was done, it was great to realize that my music was accompanying the spitting snow. There were no birds at my feeder or at any level in my scenery. I wonder if they naturally take shelter when the snow starts or if they are resting at this time of day? When I do a sit spot....wherever it is, I will remember to ask questions about what I am sensing.

A sit spot in southeastern Arizona, sacaton grass, mesquite scrub a visiting harrier hawk with the Huachuca mountains in the distance.  It was a beautiful day to draw.  I added the color later.  Not much activity from animals in the early afternoon but the hawk fly by was a big plus.  These are very familiar plants for me and I had to shift things to fit them all on the page.  I think it is mostly successful but I may work it a bit more.  Hard to know when to stop.

I found many orange and black caterpillars ( aprox. 3 cm long) on my avocado tree. They were eating the leaves and have four  long hairs on their heads and tails

I enjoyed taking the time to contemplate my surroundings. This was a good lesson in how to get the most from your time outdoors.

It was a great exercise to get into a meditative mood where the senses were amplified. Unfortunately, my sit-spot, although great for drawing ducks, had a little too much river traffic and could never deliver enough silence to allow nature´s noises to come alive. The boats drowned the ducks´ quack, the leaves´rustle, the sound of water hitting  the edge. That made my impressions and notations lack meat. Still, it was a good moment and I´ll be repeating it often. 

It was such a quiet afternoon. Rustling leaves were the primary sound in every direction, but other than that, it was all so still. I enjoyed drawing a leaf close-up. This particular day I think my mind was also a little preoccupied, but focusing the the details of the leaf helped me be more present.

Observations of birds come most easily for me.  Sketching is very new and I have lots to learn, but i gave it a shot.  : )

This sketch was done in my front yard where I have a four station feeding station for birds. These include: niger thistle, oiled black sunflower seeds, a small bird cage feeder, and suet. I observed that the very agressive pinyon jays rake sunflower seeds out of the feeder where ground-feeder birds can get. The jays fly and hide seeds around the property. Then I noticed that the chickadees and other small manmals would dig up the hiden seeds. It is interesting to see how these are interrelated. I feel honored that I live in a place where nature can come and visit. As winter approaches, it is interesting to see how animals prepare along with us. I look forward to seeing how others observe nature.

This was fun to do in my friends back yard, chilly!

I love the discovery process this cultivates and am reminded of Darwin's Red Notebooks--his drawings, questions, connections, comparisons, hypotheses and so on. My drawing fails to capture the web of tiny branches casting a halo--utterly luminous, reflecting the intense sun on a Colorado day--around the much thicker more muscular main branches of the massive cottonwood I stood under, looking straight up. I'm relatively new to Colorado and find myself asking all kinds of questions (not yet written in notebook) about these (weak?) fast growing trees with such an awesome presence.

This was really enjoyable.  I spent half an hour observing, making notes, and doing quick sketches.  Later, I referred to a Sibley bird guide to help fill in correct details to the drawings. The text was refined a bit and the boxes were added.

We had a warm morning today out ahead of an arctic front that arrived about 4 pm. I went down to the Clark Fork River and sat about 10 meters from the bank just under the mean high water mark. A few birds were active, like chickadees and magpies. Mergansers raced up and down stream. I spend a lot of time in this area fishing, taking pics, and swimming in summer. Interesting to focus in on the plants in the floodplain that are now dead or dormant. The state of the water and the trees is obvious to me as they change throughout the year. But looking more closely at the low plants along the river was a little tough. Good to try and get important details for later identification.

I noticed a lot of variation in similar static objects, like entire color ranges of leaves from the same tree.  I was in a fairly busy city park, so did not see much wildlife.  I heard numerous birds, but was a bit frustrated I couldn't identify them.  I was motivated to ID the trees surrounding me with iNaturalist so that I could properly label them in my journal. I really enjoyed experimenting with different media, although I know that is later in the course!

This is my journal page from my second visit to McDowell Grove Forrest Preserve, in Illinois. I went earlier in the week but didn't have my sketchbooks with me, so I used that day to mostly write my observations. I wanted to go back again since it was so enjoyable. The downy woodpecker was literally right in front of me, but only for 3-5 seconds. I wanted to try and draw him from memory so that was a little challenging. The two visits were quite different mostly in how I recorded my observations. Both days were really nice fall days and I ended up sitting out there for a few hours yesterday even though it was in the 40s, I painting the middle scene well into dusk, and watching the sky change color as I painted was really special.