I've been doing this for years now and have been keeping a nature journal but wanted to up my art abilities so I could do more visuals. I live in MN and what I like to do is go to the same local spots over and over again...we have several marshes close by and I have photographed the same locations over and over again all seasons. Becoming accustomed to one location like that allows you to see nature change over and over again. Are the marshmarigolds spreading year to year? How is that old tree rotting, what lichen and fungus are on it now that were not here a month ago or last spring.

I sat out on my porch and faced West looking out at the small  border plots surrounding the stone patio.   There is little evidence of perennial growth, but it changes everyday. A few bits of green are appearing in the Iris root area, and some greenery was showing leaf growth between the patio stones.    Mostly it was sounds that I heard. A distant motor sound came for some time, perhaps some kind of tractor.  Although I didn't see any birds there were several varieties of chirps and tweets surrounding me.  I spent most of  my time illustrating the metal fence surrounding my small backyard thinking of light and shading as it was late afternoon and the sun was showing its influence.

1. I found this challenging.  I usually like to take pictures and them draw from them so I can get all the details more acurately on the page.  I tried to quickly sketch the overall scene without going into too much detail.  

1) I have been participating in Project FeederWatch and so I sit often at a window where I oversee an area with 9 feeders. Many squirrels come, too, which is why it's fun to have a journal entry about them. As noted, these squirrels come regularly, but there have been uncommon visitors like the Pileated Woodpecker. That was a thrill because he/she was so big and looked so much like a dinosaur bird! 2) Artistic observations come easily and scientific observations come rather easily as well - but dispassionate ones do not. The hawk who comes occasionally always scares me because I feel very protective of the birds I encourage into the feeding area. I run out and clap at him/her, so he/she flies away....

Not good outdoor sitting weather so I sat and watched my birdfeeders from inside.  Observed Cardinals coming and going and their interactions which I hadn't noticed before sitting and watching for a 20 minute period.  Felt I learned more about Cardinal behavior.  Observing birds came easily to me, would like to get better at making quick sketches of birds.

My sit spot was by a window in my home, looking out over my bird feeders. I think it was too late in the day for any bird (or squirrel!) visitors, but I had fun observing the snow and the rest of the natural view. So much snow!

I just drew in my bird room because it was cold and windy outdoors. This is my Jardines parrot. He loves to have the attention of me drawing him.

3 degrees F/-16 C on a sunny day. Not a bird to be seen or heard. Even the squirrels are staying at home. Sat for an hour in my dining window looking down and not one glimpse of wildlife to be seen. Normally this sit spot (my favourite place in my little apartment downtown) is full of activity, especially the antics of the squirrels- leaping, caching, chirping their warnings at me and at each other. Today all is quiet. I struggle with tree branches... I just "fake 'em". 

I did my sit spot at my window that opens to my fire escape. Since I've been working from home, I've been able to watch and observe all the changes over the seasons, who comes to feed at what times, etc. I have a few regular visitors that showed up today and I was able to include in my sketches, along with a new visitor! I included Stewart, a squirrel who comes to eat the seeds from my halloween pumpkin, peanuts, and bird seed. He's become a hit with my friends, he is very photogenic. Then there is Dolly, a one-legged dark-eyed junco who likes to feed by herself or wait for other juncos to leave. Today she sat alone on my windowsill for a full 15 minutes just watching. She also bounced a little from the balancing. A female cardinal also showed up, which was a new fire escape sighting for this winter and I was very excited she paid a visit! As I was sketching, I started with something to anchor me that I felt might be the larger item, which was the bush/tree to the left of the fire escape. Then I placed the other animal visitors in open spaces and filled in some notes. This sketch isn't too out of the box, so i'd like to continue to play with different ideas for formats.

This is a bit silly, but which book should we take out to the field?  The black one or the larger blue one?

I noticed patterns more on my second try. Observations of light and sound came easily (in the case of the sound of passing traffic, came frustratingly). Counting things and finding patterns was more of a challenge, maybe because my mind isn't very methodical ;-) Still, I loved how this exercise took me out of daily "to-do's" and into a world of wonder. I can't wait to try it again.

Sight observations came more easily to me, especially looking for birds. I am used to looking up and spying movement. Looking at plants and other things on the ground was more out of the box for me because I normally don’t intentionally look at the plants around me.

The sit spot exercise was so meditative.  I sat out for about 30 minutes on my back deck.  What a wonderful exercise to draw and observe my little friends I see in a new way.  Loved this!

I sat on a fallen log, which was outside the fence for my yard. It was lovely to just sit and be with nature. I found that visual observations came easily, but listening to the forest was difficult for me. I had to clear my thoughts to be able to truly experience the sit spot.