From bluebells to beeches, Jane Adams explains how simple nature journaling can reconnect us to the quiet magic unfolding on our doorstep
Do you ever wish you could remember when you last heard a cuckoo? Or the exact date the bluebells bloomed last year?
For years, I scribbled these things down on scraps of paper and stuffed them into drawers, thinking I would remember.
Obviously, I never did.
Then I discovered nature journaling.
The best thing about nature journaling is that you don’t need any special skills. It’s not about what you know, it’s about what you notice. It gives you a reason to slow your thoughts and pay close attention to the world around you – something so many of us struggle to do as we bustle through our busy lives.
By noting things down, you begin to notice small things. The way a wild bluebell droops to one side. Its subtle, sweet smell. How ridiculously green the leaves of beech trees are when they first emerge. Over days, months and years, small observations grow into a record of something bigger.
Don’t worry, just begin
How you choose to journal is up to you. Some people like to write things down or take photographs, others make sketches or audio recordings. The beauty is there is no right or wrong way: it’s whatever will fit into your life.
It’s probably worth mentioning that nature journaling isn’t a new, trendy fad, people have been doing it for millennia. The naturalist Rev. Gilbert White was keeping a record of nature on his Hampshire patch back in the 1700s. The Natural History of Selborne, his published journal, is still a top seller. But you don’t need to be a monied vicar to have a go: just arm yourself with a cheap notebook, or a free nature journaling app on your phone, and you can start straight away.
Journal about a place you know well, somewhere you visit regularly. This could be your garden, a balcony, a nearby park, maybe a favourite footpath or green space. Be sure to concentrate on and record the small things. Crouch down and look at a tiny flower (the flowers of Germander speedwell – like tiny blue jewels – are a highlight at this time of year), or study some Lilliputian lichen on top of
a fence post.
Don’t worry if you don’t know what you’re looking at (though you could try to identify it when you get home) because identification isn’t the point. It’s about your connection to nature and to the seasons. It’s about knowing that the cuckoo sang on 1st of May last year, that a blackbird nested in your garden in 2019 and that you found a slow worm in the compost heap in 2015. It’s a comforting confirmation of nature’s resilience and determination, even amidst the ever-present challenges of climate change.
It’s also an important reminder that we’re part of something bigger, something still unfolding – and those tiny, seemingly insignificant things that connect us to the natural world really do matter.
How to start a nature journal:
Pen and paper: Any notebook will do – small is good (especially if you’re journaling outside and want to pop it in your pocket!). Watercolour sketchbooks are great if you’re drawing (you could also sketch from photos once at home, if that’s easier).
Digital tools: Try the free Encounter app developed by nature writer Melissa Harrison, as a digital alternative. You can log what you see on your phone, as well as where you saw it and when, and add photos. It also includes helpful daily posts on seasonal nature to spot, and tips on nature journaling.
encounter-nature.com
Suggestions of what to journal: time, date, is it cold or hot, windy or calm … describe, draw or photograph what you notice. Get close up and use your senses. If it’s an insect or flower, what could it be? Take a guess if you don’t know. How do you feel? Are you stressed after a bad day, or calmed by being outside?
