photos of course have the advantage of rendering the image in a perfect way; however, digital photography has made most of us snap happy. I point and click and click and click and do not necessarily look at the all the little details in the bird. Drawing forces us to study minute details of the thing we are recording.
I have recently retired and am interested in nature journaling as a hobby that I can do forever. It appeals to me because I love to learn about nature, especially bird and plant identification. I think observing nature in this way is the ultimate mindfulness activity. I loved the journals that have a lot of writing, rather than mostly painting. (probably because I have no confidence in my own artistic ability).