Sarah dreams of beans

I have yet to find anyone who keeps bird notes beyond a list on ebird, so I setup my notebook my own way... Little bit log book, little bit nature journal, little bit grimoire.

Sharing because I love looking at other people's notebooks so maybe you do too 🤷🏻

#birding #notebooks #journals #grimoires

Jan 13 at 7:05pmWeb
Show threadSarah dreams of beansJan 13
#FountainPens peeps, these Opus notebooks are $12 canadian and have 224 pages of nice paper and a built-in pen loop. BC local business too 👍🏻
Show threadSarah dreams of beansJan 13
Three sections: a big list, notes by species, and dated session notes... I am contemplating adding a section for omens 🔮
Show threadSarah dreams of beansJan 13
People have different rules for life lists... I have never been a serious birder but I have been a casual birder my whole life. Lot of girl guide badges and relatives who always bring binoculars. So I started my list from the beginning, from memory
Show threadSarah dreams of beansJan 13
I thought about including birds I saw in zoos or rescue programs, but when I reflected on animals I have seen both caged and free I decided not too. It's really different seeing flamingos on the loose
Show threadSarah dreams of beansJan 13
Most of my notebooks are various grimoires so I am in the habit of dedicating them. Seemed apropos to dedicate each section of this one to a bird 🐦
Show threadSarah dreams of beansJan 13

To make bird notes easy to look up I numbered them in the same order as the life list, but I feel no pressure to fill them all in. I don't usually reserve sections in notebooks but this seemed worth it. Most commercial/pre-printed bird journals have a reserved section for each species.

Same as the bird list, I added old memories here

Show threadSarah dreams of beansJan 13
I like including notes by bird because it gives an easy way to figure out where to find them. I organize my urban foraging notebook this way too, by plant, so I can easily figure out options for gathering public fennel or plums or whatever
Show threadSarah dreams of beansJan 13

Video from the day of that Northern Saw-whet bird note in 2017. Little owl sleeping in the city, directly outside my third floor bedroom window. Seems like sleeping in a windy tree might feel similar to sleeping on a boat.

#birds #owls

Show threadSarah dreams of beansJan 13

I love this photo because you can see a chickadee perched above the owl, screaming, which is how I notice owls 90% of the time

#birds #owls #chickadees

Show threadSarah dreams of beansJan 13
Dated notes section is the one part i did not add any retroactive info to. Just free pages to add notes from outings and classes if i want to. My goal is to include sketches even if they aren't great
Show threadSarah dreams of beansJan 13
Other things I might eventually add to the bird journal: a checklist organized by bird family, space for goals like learning more local bird calls, and, for real, notes on bird omens because they are so dramatic sometimes
Show threadcathosJan 13
@beandreams thank you for sharing this. i also love seeing other people's journals!
Show threadSarah dreams of beansJan 13
Lol I just want to add that this is a photo of white paper that I took outdoors with southern exposure literally at noon. PNW winter gloom is no joke
Show threadJeff Miller (orange hatband)Jan 13
@beandreams The gloomdamp is real.
Show threadSarah dreams of beansJan 13
@jmeowmeow Nice weather for vampires
Show threadJeff Miller (orange hatband)Jan 13
@beandreams Edward Sparkleden! (I have E. Snowden on my "Team Edward" shirt).
Show threadHollieJan 13
@beandreams I love this! Great idea! :)
Show threadWillJan 20
@beandreams
I have a similar bird/plant notebook. 👍🏼
Show threadSarah dreams of beansJan 20
@scandigonian Birds and plants together?
Show threadWillJan 20
@beandreams
Kind of like a calendar -- what the birds and plants (and bugs) are doing at different times of the year.
Show threadSarah dreams of beansJan 20
@scandigonian I love that!
Show threadNina ZinaJan 26
what a great idea for a notebook!!