Bird Journaling

Oh where are the birds? I have food out. There is a source of water. Where are the birds? Is that something you find yourself saying; 'where are the birds?' I do. And that is one of the many reasons I journal about 'my' birds. If I don't take the time to write about their visits to the yard I forget how often they do come and the variety of species I have seen in my very own backyard! So I confess I am a bird watcher. I am also a keeper of a bird journal. I am not as faithful to my journal entries as I would like to be, but I do keep a journal that helps me keep up with the birds that visit my yard. I find that when I am too busy to journal, I am too busy to stop and look for the birds! I do not want to be too busy to stop and watch for the birds; they are nature. We are nature. Together we with the birds, the trees, the wind, the rain, the bugs, the everything put together are nature; we are the world around us.
Bird journals should not be confused with the scientific notes called 'field notes'. Bird journals are personal and should, in fact need to have the personal insights of the person jotting down what is seen. One would of course want to know what the date of the entry is including the year. Sometimes I forget to put the year and then when I go back to read over some of the entries I get a bit confused as to what year I am reading about! The time of day and the weather conditions are also important. Where you are is important. Is it your backyard? a park? a city street? Then of course what are the birds doing? Eating? Flying? Floating on the water? Fighting? Birds are very territorial.
Identify the bird! The most difficult task! What bird is it that you are watching? Some birds are easy to identify such as the red Cardinal or the yellow Gold Finch. Some are a bit more tricky such as the Sparrows! There are so many different species under the title Sparrow I am still trying to figure out these little guys and gals; who is who?
If you decide to journal do it your way. Don't worry about spelling or grammar. Draw a picture of the bird if it helps you. I often like to use pencil for my entries. Some people like a special pen. I like to write at the kitchen table in the morning with my cup of coffee. That is one of the best times to see the birds in action; the morning. Sometimes I am very reflective other times I simple jot down who came to visit. The gift of taking time to journal is the gift of sight and sound. When you take time to write about what you see and hear it actually causes you to truly 'see' and 'hear'. The journal will help you to become more observant. You will become more aware of the world around you. You will begin to understand the relationship of cause and effect more deeply. I would hope you would become more aware that we are the world around us. The 'we' meaning nature and all her beauties and us. And we are the most responsible for nature as we are at the top of the food chain; we have the ability to plan and think for the future and to change if we need to. We are a part of the world around us and this world does not belong to us.