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.

a nice november day.  the tree was farther from my spot, the grasses were close to my spot.  I think the distance is not accurate in the drawing but I like observing outside.  I have a long experience in this spot and it seemed new and fresh today.

 I don’t remember my leaves identification from when I was a kid but I hope to relearn it now.

I’ve kept a written journal for decades, and clearly that comes more naturally to me than drawing. Also, the birds were the most striking things for me, and they were not hanging around for sketches! I was also very interested in the sounds of the birds. Usually I’m more of a plant person, but the back yard is mostly weeds I’m trying to get rid of, senescent veggie garden—and the sunflower stalks that bring in the birds, piquing my curiosity about them.

I'm enjoying doing this and finding what I like that adds information as well as looking pleasing to me.

Second page of my Sit Spot. I quite enjoyed this activity, spending 30 minutes on our back deck taking in the nature preserve that abuts our backyard. The first page of my Sit Spot is all text, noting what I heard, saw and felt on my face (it was chilly and the temperature felt as though it was dropping as the clouds meandered by and the sun traversed the sky.) With page two I focused on what was on our deck, and found myself entranced by a pot of flowers that still had some blooms, despite several evenings of temperatures in the 30s. I felt most content drawing rather than writing, which makes me smile. :-)

The "outside the box" observations for me are when I am observing a forested landscape in front of me.  I often wonder where to start and am getting a little overwhelmed.  For now, I enjoy observing a single leaf or bird, taking a picture and drawing in my free time.  The weather is getting cold here and I will probably have fewer opportunities to draw outside.

It's November, cloudy, breezy, 48. It's not a day for outside sitting. So for many of these assignments, it's indoors, looking out.

I ventured out into the backyard.  It has been cold and frosty here so couldn't get to a park.  I had a great experience, though!  I am fairly good at sitting/meditating, so it wasn't hard to be still.  Even with the barrage of human noise, I still heard birds and saw hawks and had a visit from our friendly squirrel friend.  I am looking forward to really venturing out to a more "nature-y" setting soon!

My spot was my backyard in Sonoma County. I enjoyed taking the time to observe and appreciate it's natural beauty after a week on the edge of evacuating due to the Kincaid fire. I found a dried seed pod I had not noticed before and discovered it was from a small dogwood tree. I don't normally close my eyes to observe, but as soon as I did I could really smell the aroma of the bay tree.  

It is a rainy day here, so I ran outside and grabbed a few leaves. I placed them under a light for shadow. I really went for the autumn color.

I found time to go to a spot around 5:30 PM. But it was  getting dark quickly. I listened I smelled I tasted. I was there a short 20 minutes,  so many species to record, a few sounds, and only tasted one thing. But I felt the rough texture of the Aspen bark,  and the smooth velvety surface of the polypore which I need to identify it is not one of the few I know.  

I mostly notice noises and animals (birds) at my sit spot. My position was alao a bit awkward so I could not successfully sketch as I would have liked. As  far as outside of the box, I did not feel anything particularly interesting in the vegetation perhaps because it was so dense? Only one morning glory that was opened compared to a few others that were closed.

1)I observed the wooded hillside below my house. I have been here many times to work on the hillside, but never to just observe. I filled only one page of my journal, but could have stayed for an hour and still had information to record. I would like to try this again when I have unlimited time. 2)I found it easy to make quantitative observations and verbal descriptions, but I didn't do much drawing. I think I need to practice that so I can sketch quickly and easily. Especially as I record changes in the deciduous plants and those that die down to the ground in winter, it would make for some interesting observations at this time of year.

I did this sit spot in my front yard a few days ago. It is a stump from a tree that died and had to be cut down a few years ago.  There are some really cool polypores forming on the Northern side of the decaying stump.  It was a very calming moment to sit out there and to absorb everything.   In notes outside the photo, I also recorded 14 bird species.  My wife was working in the garden.  I believe making this sketch / doing this sit spot gave me a deeper memory of the moment; it cast a wider net: I noticed shadows and textures of decomposition in the stump that I would not have otherwise noticed.

This is a river about 1/4 mile from our house.   I go there with the kids at least once a day.   I didn’t see many birds today. I really enjoyed the sit spot and just writing things I saw.  This is my first try at adding watercolor to my page.  I’m really enjoying this course!  

Sitting on the table on the terrace in front of the house.  It is about 6pm, the sky is getting dark. Sound comes first.  I heard lots of things, mostly birds as we live in the country.  Next time, I'll move out into the garden to do this.  I could hear the birds but could not see them from the terrace.  I definately need to cut back this rose and next spring tie it up so that it grows along the trellis.  If feels very much like fall.

I sit on the patio all the time, but this time when I concentrated on what was happening around me I heard and saw details I hadn't observed before. It is hard to site and just let nature take over.

I didn't actually sit in one spot. I walked slowly along the trail looking for things that "caught my eye". The wooly bear caterpillar was fun to sketch and as people walked past me, we shared our knowledge of this caterpillar.  Then I went home and looked up more information about it's life cycle.  I guess I should have written in my journal the new things  I learned as well.  Just to help me to remember.  I was nervous to add water colour.  I just felt it would blotch up the whole thing.