Keeping Track...

Brynwood Needleworks - Nature Journal

 

I love watching and feeding the birds that visit the farm every day. I've taken photographs with my iPhone and my "real" camera, and I can sit in the kitchen chronicling their visits to the feeders for hours on end. I also sat on the floor in the dining room, watching raccoons, oppossums, and even stray cats during the winter.

Handsome said, "I'm surprised you don't keep a journal of all the different birds that stop in every day." It got me thinking. After our conversation, I made a side trip when I had to be in town. I picked up a nice, inexpensive journal notebook to do just that. It has nice paper inside, and a soft, suede-like cover on the outside.

 

I'm not an artist with pencil or pens, however, I'm going to make an attempt to sketch now and then. I'm also making note of daily temperatures, what's growing on the farm, and furry visitors, too.

I began mid-April, noting the first bluebird that arrived, and have even had to look up a few birds that I couldn't definitively identify. (That part's been really fun for me.) I noticed a darker version of the Baltimore Oriole, and now know that it's an Orchard Oriole. Likewise with little birds that I thought were common sparrows with redder heads. Well, those are actually Chipping Sparrows. I've also identified the larger White Crowned Sparrows. Can you tell I'm having fun?

I may also use the pages of the book to press flowers that grow wild here...the tiny violets that peek out of our lawn, and an as-yet-unidentified purple flower that spreads like wildfire around the compass barn. I'm thinking it may be a wild oregano (that's what it smells like when I mow), but I'm still working on a positive ID.

The gorgeous irridescent feather that you see in the picture is from a wild turkey. In the light, it actually changes color from the green you see to a reddish-brown. It's truly beautiful. I'll be adding this to the pages of my book, too, along with the bluejay and other feathers I've found near the feeders.

My book won't be like my blog posts with daily entries, but I will keep track of the milestones here at the farm that bring joy to my soul. I'm looking forward to filling the pages. 

Have you ever done anything like this? Can you draw? What do you write within the pages (just vaguely, not anything specific)? I'd love to know.