Nature Journaling: How to Start and What to Record

Nature journaling is the practice of recording what you notice outdoors through sketches, written observations, questions, diagrams, maps, measurements, or any combination of them. You do not need to be an artist, naturalist, or scientist to start. A notebook, something to write with, and a willingness to pay attention are enough.

I got into nature journaling before I really thought of it as a separate practice. I was already carrying sketchbooks while traveling and spending time outdoors, so I started recording small things I wanted to remember: unfamiliar fruit, leaves, lizards, birds, rocks, changes in light, and whatever else caught my attention.

Eventually I realized the journal was doing more than storing drawings. It was changing how closely I looked at a place.

That is still the main reason I keep one. A nature journal gives me a reason to stop, look longer, ask questions, and preserve details that I probably would have forgotten if I had only taken a photograph.

What Is Nature Journaling?

A nature journal is a personal record of observations made in the natural world.

One page might contain a drawing of a bird with notes about its movement. Another might contain a map of a walk, the weather, a few leaf shapes, questions about an unfamiliar plant, and no finished drawing at all.

Some people approach nature journaling scientifically. Others approach it primarily through drawing or writing. Mine tends to mix all three.

The point is not to make every page attractive. The page gives you somewhere to record what you noticed.

How to Start a Nature Journal

I would make the first outing as simple as possible.

Take a notebook and pen or pencil outside. You do not need a dedicated field journal yet.
Choose one place. A backyard, balcony, neighborhood park, beach, trail, or bench is enough.
Record the context. Write the date, time, location, and basic weather conditions.
Look before you draw or write. Spend a few minutes noticing what is happening.
Choose one thing that catches your attention. It could be a bird, leaf, shadow, cloud, insect, sound, or pattern.
Record what you actually observe. Sketch it, describe it, measure it, write a question, or combine several approaches.
Leave questions unanswered. You can identify the species or research what you saw later.

I think that last step matters. I would rather spend a few minutes looking closely at an unfamiliar bird than immediately reach for my phone and turn the experience into an identification exercise.

What Should You Put in a Nature Journal?

There is no required format. I mix whatever helps me remember and understand the observation.

What to record	Example
Date and time	October 5, 8:15 a.m.
Location	Trail, park, backyard, coastline, or coordinates when useful
Weather	Temperature, cloud cover, wind, rain, humidity
Habitat	Forest edge, wetland, beach, grassland, neighborhood garden
Sketches	Whole subjects, small details, gestures, silhouettes, patterns
Behavior	How an animal moves, feeds, rests, calls, or interacts
Sensory notes	Sounds, smells, textures, temperature
Questions	What species is this? Why is it behaving this way?
Changes	What is different from the last visit?

Not every entry needs all of those. Some of my pages are mostly drawings. Others may be a few sentences and a tiny diagram.

I think consistency of attention matters more than consistency of page design.

You Do Not Need to Be Good at Drawing

Drawing is useful in a nature journal because it forces me to look longer, not because every sketch needs to become artwork.

If I am watching a bird, I might make several quick marks showing its posture rather than attempting one detailed finished illustration. If it flies away, I can add notes about the movement, color, call, or behavior I remember.

A rough drawing can sometimes be more useful than a polished one because it records something that happened quickly.

You can also write instead of draw. Describe the edge of a leaf, make a list of sounds, record the colors you see, or write down three questions about one subject.

What Nature Journaling Has Changed for Me

The biggest benefit I notice is that nature journaling makes me slow down enough to see more.

When I am sketching wildlife, I start noticing changes in posture and behavior that are easy to miss when I am simply watching. When I return to one place repeatedly, I begin noticing when plants flower, when particular birds appear, how the light changes, or which details are different from the previous visit.

The journal also becomes a record of those experiences. Months later, a few rough sketches and notes can bring back the place much more clearly than I expect.

I also value the stretch of focused time itself. Sitting somewhere with a sketchbook gives me one thing to pay attention to instead of constantly switching between screens, notifications, and other distractions.

I do not think a nature journal needs to be treated as therapy or another task for self-improvement. For me, the simple act of being outside and paying close attention is valuable on its own.

Start With Very Simple Supplies

I started with a cheap sketchbook and a ballpoint pen.

That is still enough to nature journal.

As I kept going, I added materials that suited the way I worked, including colored pencils and a small watercolor set.

A basic setup might contain:

a small sketchbook or notebook
a pen or pencil
an eraser if you want one
optional colored pencils or watercolor

I would not buy a large kit before you know what you actually enjoy using outside. If you want to see the gear I carry now, my nature journaling supplies guide goes into that separately.

I also keep my regular field gear together in a nature journaling bag so I can grab it without rebuilding the kit every time I go out.

Nature Journaling Wildlife

Animals are usually what catch my attention first because I work as a wildlife artist.

They also force me to abandon the idea that every drawing needs to be finished.

A bird may give me ten seconds. I might record the angle of the body, where the tail sits, a dark patch of feathers, and the direction it moved. A lizard might disappear before I finish its outline. That unfinished information is still useful.

When an animal moves too quickly to draw, I write:

what it was doing
how it moved
where it was standing or feeding
sounds it made
colors or markings I noticed
questions I want to investigate later

If you want to see how loose these pages can be, look through my nature journaling examples.

Observe First, Identify Later

I like species identification, but I try not to let it replace observation.

If I immediately identify something with an app, I can accidentally reduce the entire encounter to finding the correct name.

Instead, I try to record what I can first:

shape
size
color
behavior
habitat
movement
sounds
anything unusual

Then I can use a field guide or identification tool afterward and compare what I recorded with what I learn.

Use Questions When You Don’t Know What to Record

When I am stuck, I do not try to invent a finished page. I ask one question.

What is happening right now?
What is changing?
What am I overlooking?
How is this animal or plant interacting with its surroundings?
What do I hear that I cannot see?
What do I want to understand later?

One question is often enough to get me looking again.

If you want a larger collection of starting points, use my nature journaling prompts and ideas.

Revisit the Same Place

A nature journal becomes more interesting when I stop treating every entry as a separate outing.

Returning to the same tree, pond, trail, garden, or patch of coastline gives me something to compare.

Over time I might notice:

when a plant begins flowering
which birds appear during different seasons
changes in water levels
different insect activity
shifts in light and weather
new tracks, nests, or feeding signs

The entries slowly become a record of one place changing through time.

Nature Journaling While Traveling

Nature journaling also fits naturally into travel because a sketchbook gives me a reason to spend more time with a place instead of only moving through it.

I might record a plant I have never seen before, the shape of a coastline, local wildlife, a landscape, or simply the weather and light at a particular moment.

The goal is not to document everything. I would rather record a handful of details that made the place distinct to me.

For travel that includes cities, architecture, people, and everyday scenes as well as nature, my travel sketching guide takes the idea beyond nature journaling.

How to Keep a Nature Journal Going

I do not think you need to nature journal every day.

What helps me more is making the journal easy to use.

Keep your supplies simple.
Leave room for unfinished pages.
Do not wait for an impressive location.
Revisit places close to home.
Let short entries count.
Follow what you are genuinely curious about.

Some of my most useful observations can happen close to home because familiarity makes change easier to recognize.

A backyard, neighborhood tree, window view, or local park can give you years of material if you keep returning.

Nature Journaling Can Be as Simple as Paying Attention

I started nature journaling because I wanted to remember things I saw outside. The longer I have kept doing it, the more I value the looking itself.

You do not need beautiful pages, expensive materials, rare wildlife, or a remote landscape.

Take a notebook outside. Write down where you are. Choose one thing that catches your attention. Look at it longer than you normally would and record something you did not notice at first.

That is enough to start a nature journal.