What a lovely post, Cara! We only have two thrushes out here in Oregon so it’s much easier to tell them apart. I miss Wood Thrushes, though, with their ethereal voices. Looking forward to more of your posts!
Gorgeous nature journal. I found myself talking birds to my regular grocery delivery driver the other day - he's been coming for over a year but I never knew he was a birder as well! We both just lit up talking birds, was lovely. Glad a couple of women were out in your park - birding still seems to be a male dominated interest unfortunately.
I just love those interactions! I can be more on the introverted side but I have absolutely no trouble talking to strangers about birds :)
What’s also interesting is that yesterday I went on a birding walk with the Linnaean society- there must have been 50 or 60 people total (we had to split up into smaller groups) and I want to say the large majority were women (more than 2/3s!). Maybe there is something to differences in wanting to bird in groups. But I do agree that the hobby seems to be male dominated overall!
I'm the same - I generally avoid people, unless we can interact about nature or pets. lol. That is cool that so many women were in the group. Things are shifting slowly!
I just love everything about this post and your connection with/to nature. I am a long time journal keeper but I would love to bring some sketches to my journal entries. Any suggestions for a very beginner.
Thank you so much! Just starting wherever you can is the best advice I have, and not worrying too much about the end product, at least at first. I like to do sketches first, and then writing around it- the drawing also works as a sort of meditative process that helps me think about what I want to write. I also like Keeping a Nature Journal by Clare Walker Leslie as a useful guide for getting started.
I spent an entire summer years ago, sitting in the grass in my backyard quietly and still so that I might learn to identify all the "random brown birds." There are so many sparrows! ((ha)) And I got a few thrushes too. I love this... I'm thinking so much about the importance of detailed noticing for mental health (am actually writing a post right now and I came across yours). Beautiful work.
I felt like I have missed out on so much before I started really paying attention to birds, so now I’m making up for lost time. It’s nice to get lost in something that doesn’t live on a screen!
Beautiful post! I've just decided I want to start nature journaling again (haven't done it since my early twenties). What kind of markers are you using? Do they bleed through the pages much?
So glad to hear you’re starting up again! I use Tombow markers on Tomoe River paper and have had no issues with bleedthrough - I’ve also used these with Leuchtturm and Moleskine notebooks without issue. They’re water-based so you probably won’t have problems with them on most notebooks! Not sure if archiving is a concern for you, but the only thing is that they’re not lightfast and colors will fade over time on pieces exposed to light (but for use in a closed sketchbook, they’re great and affordable).
I have recently started nature journalling, recording the things I see on my daily walks with our little Pomeranian. I've found it has helped me to be more mindful, much more aware of the 'new' that appears every day and also much more appreciative of the beauty all around. Not to mention the discipline of sitting and doing the actual recording, which means carving out time, accepting I'll never capture nature as I see it in my mind, and being humble to accept my limitations as an artist (!). I hadn't thought about (as you say) what observation means for our place in the natural world, and our place as a witness of difference. Thank you for that.
Yes, I resonate with all of this! I felt a little bit like I’d been asleep to the world before I starting birding/nature journaling after I started noticing all of the micro-changes that can happen so quickly especially in the spring.
Hi Cara! I live in a cottage in the country side in Denmark and I love watching the birds here. I’m a photographer but don’t have such a long lens to capture them close. I was thinking to get binoculars. Or is it better with a camera? I love how you documented them in your journal. Thank you for sharing.
Hi Claudia! I would say to start with binoculars - look for ones labeled 8x42 (8x magnification, 42mm lens which is wide/bright enough to see birds). You can get cheap ones online that might be good to start with if you’re not sure if you’re going to stick with using them, but if you know that they’ll be an investment, get the best ones you can afford! I see lots of birders with the Vortex brand, for example.
With the camera lens, I actually get by with a pretty cheap/old setup in NYC, because the nature of our green spaces compresses higher volumes of migrating birds into smaller areas, I can manage to get a bit closer to them than I imagine you might in the countryside. I use a 70-300mm lens with image stabilization (I spent less than $300) but am planning to upgrade to either a 100-500mm or 200-800mm eventually (after upgrading my camera body). For now, I can occasionally get lucky with a nice shot of a bird that pops up close by, and otherwise, I really love having the camera for identification later on. So if you want to grab yourself a cheaper longer lens even just to help you ID I think it could be worth it!
I hope that helps and would be happy to talk through any other questions you might have :)
Thank you so much, Cara! I think I’m going to look for some lens options. I have Fujifilm, and the longest I have is an 80mm Fuji macro lens is is the equivalent of a 120mm in full frame. Even if they get closer - we have a bird bath which they love, is still not enough. If the binoculars are expensive, I’d rather spend those money on a lens. Thank you so much again! 💕
I just truly love how your pages with the drawings look. You’ve inspired me to give it a try. Well- You plus nature! because last night the most perfect eastern bluebird landed right in front of me. I don’t know anything about birds really - I’m still learning. But the bright blue wings with the bright orange belly were beautiful. Beautiful enough to get the colored pencils out for my journal.
I love this and I’m so glad! I don’t get to see eastern bluebirds too often in NYC but I find when I venture a little bit upstate I see them everywhere. Definitely the kind of bird that inspires recording!
What a lovely post, Cara! We only have two thrushes out here in Oregon so it’s much easier to tell them apart. I miss Wood Thrushes, though, with their ethereal voices. Looking forward to more of your posts!
Thank you so much - you are lucky enough to have varied thrushes though and I’d love to see one of those someday!
Come visit us up here in Oregon! We’re happy to share them with you!
My number one place I’d like to visit in the US and haven’t yet is the Pacific Northwest, so I’m hoping to make it up there soon!
I’m in Corvallis, Oregon. Let me know if you’re in the neighborhood! We can go birding together!
Gorgeous nature journal. I found myself talking birds to my regular grocery delivery driver the other day - he's been coming for over a year but I never knew he was a birder as well! We both just lit up talking birds, was lovely. Glad a couple of women were out in your park - birding still seems to be a male dominated interest unfortunately.
I just love those interactions! I can be more on the introverted side but I have absolutely no trouble talking to strangers about birds :)
What’s also interesting is that yesterday I went on a birding walk with the Linnaean society- there must have been 50 or 60 people total (we had to split up into smaller groups) and I want to say the large majority were women (more than 2/3s!). Maybe there is something to differences in wanting to bird in groups. But I do agree that the hobby seems to be male dominated overall!
I'm the same - I generally avoid people, unless we can interact about nature or pets. lol. That is cool that so many women were in the group. Things are shifting slowly!
I so deeply resonate with this. Birding as some small act of resistance? Thank you for sharing!
I don't live in New York, so thank you for taking me to Central Park to bird watch with you through this post!
I just love everything about this post and your connection with/to nature. I am a long time journal keeper but I would love to bring some sketches to my journal entries. Any suggestions for a very beginner.
Thank you so much! Just starting wherever you can is the best advice I have, and not worrying too much about the end product, at least at first. I like to do sketches first, and then writing around it- the drawing also works as a sort of meditative process that helps me think about what I want to write. I also like Keeping a Nature Journal by Clare Walker Leslie as a useful guide for getting started.
I spent an entire summer years ago, sitting in the grass in my backyard quietly and still so that I might learn to identify all the "random brown birds." There are so many sparrows! ((ha)) And I got a few thrushes too. I love this... I'm thinking so much about the importance of detailed noticing for mental health (am actually writing a post right now and I came across yours). Beautiful work.
I felt like I have missed out on so much before I started really paying attention to birds, so now I’m making up for lost time. It’s nice to get lost in something that doesn’t live on a screen!
Beautiful post! I've just decided I want to start nature journaling again (haven't done it since my early twenties). What kind of markers are you using? Do they bleed through the pages much?
So glad to hear you’re starting up again! I use Tombow markers on Tomoe River paper and have had no issues with bleedthrough - I’ve also used these with Leuchtturm and Moleskine notebooks without issue. They’re water-based so you probably won’t have problems with them on most notebooks! Not sure if archiving is a concern for you, but the only thing is that they’re not lightfast and colors will fade over time on pieces exposed to light (but for use in a closed sketchbook, they’re great and affordable).
Thank you! I will find them. :)
Thank you! Now I will be able to differentiate which is which.
I have recently started nature journalling, recording the things I see on my daily walks with our little Pomeranian. I've found it has helped me to be more mindful, much more aware of the 'new' that appears every day and also much more appreciative of the beauty all around. Not to mention the discipline of sitting and doing the actual recording, which means carving out time, accepting I'll never capture nature as I see it in my mind, and being humble to accept my limitations as an artist (!). I hadn't thought about (as you say) what observation means for our place in the natural world, and our place as a witness of difference. Thank you for that.
Yes, I resonate with all of this! I felt a little bit like I’d been asleep to the world before I starting birding/nature journaling after I started noticing all of the micro-changes that can happen so quickly especially in the spring.
This is so amazing! Thank you for sharing. I've never clicked subscribe so fast!
Hi Cara! I live in a cottage in the country side in Denmark and I love watching the birds here. I’m a photographer but don’t have such a long lens to capture them close. I was thinking to get binoculars. Or is it better with a camera? I love how you documented them in your journal. Thank you for sharing.
Hi Claudia! I would say to start with binoculars - look for ones labeled 8x42 (8x magnification, 42mm lens which is wide/bright enough to see birds). You can get cheap ones online that might be good to start with if you’re not sure if you’re going to stick with using them, but if you know that they’ll be an investment, get the best ones you can afford! I see lots of birders with the Vortex brand, for example.
With the camera lens, I actually get by with a pretty cheap/old setup in NYC, because the nature of our green spaces compresses higher volumes of migrating birds into smaller areas, I can manage to get a bit closer to them than I imagine you might in the countryside. I use a 70-300mm lens with image stabilization (I spent less than $300) but am planning to upgrade to either a 100-500mm or 200-800mm eventually (after upgrading my camera body). For now, I can occasionally get lucky with a nice shot of a bird that pops up close by, and otherwise, I really love having the camera for identification later on. So if you want to grab yourself a cheaper longer lens even just to help you ID I think it could be worth it!
I hope that helps and would be happy to talk through any other questions you might have :)
Thank you so much, Cara! I think I’m going to look for some lens options. I have Fujifilm, and the longest I have is an 80mm Fuji macro lens is is the equivalent of a 120mm in full frame. Even if they get closer - we have a bird bath which they love, is still not enough. If the binoculars are expensive, I’d rather spend those money on a lens. Thank you so much again! 💕
That sounds like a good plan, I hope you share some of your photos when you do!
Resonating so many sentiments that come to mind when out in nature, especially as an observer and in some part documenter. Thank you for sharing-
I just truly love how your pages with the drawings look. You’ve inspired me to give it a try. Well- You plus nature! because last night the most perfect eastern bluebird landed right in front of me. I don’t know anything about birds really - I’m still learning. But the bright blue wings with the bright orange belly were beautiful. Beautiful enough to get the colored pencils out for my journal.
I love this and I’m so glad! I don’t get to see eastern bluebirds too often in NYC but I find when I venture a little bit upstate I see them everywhere. Definitely the kind of bird that inspires recording!