How to Start a Nature Journal

One of the fastest ways to get connected with the natural world around you is through a nature journal. Keep track of where the sun rises on the horizon every day, when rain falls, or what birds you see in your yard for a year, and you will begin to get a sense of the real essence of a place. Besides taking notes, you can also try your hand at sketching.

“Drawing and observing are mutually reinforcing activities,” Clare Walker Leslie and Charles Roth write in Keeping a Nature Journal. They suggest starting with simple paper or a notebook you like (Moleskines and Clairefontaines are great). Experiment with a selection of felt-tip and rolling ball pens, or try old-fashioned and mechanical pencils. When you’re ready for color, start with Berol Prismacolor pencils or Derwent watercolor pencils.

Nature journaling doesn’t need to be a solitary act. My family keeps a shared notebook at my mother’s cottage. My mom makes poetic descriptions of light on the water, I make detailed lists of bird species, and my mother’s partner leaves cryptic notes about which of her secret spots has yielded the best berries. Visitors are asked to share a moment from their stay. Over time, with our many voices, we are telling the story of our shared place.

Read Jake Miller’s 6 ways to nurture your connection with nature.