Pablo’s Woodlife: Wildlife, Tracking and Bushcraft

Techy Lists

The first of January is traditionally when bird-watchers reset their lists and start the year over with their new bird sightings. A line is drawn under the year and lists are compared with previous years. Boulmer Birder makes reference to this in recent posts.

Although I’m not a “birder” in the true sense, I do like to keep records of any sightings during the year. With a renewed interest in Bushcraft, I’ve extended my lists in recent years to include wildflowers and fungi, particularly with a view to seeing what medicinal or edible properties they have. This is an area I’m quite weak on at the moment and hope to improve. I get satisfaction in identifying something I’ve never seen before and entering it on the database as a “first-sighting.” This year wasn’t the best year for these first sights, but I did see my first Snow bunting and a handful of newly identified wildflowers.

I still use my hard copy notebooks or journals to record sightings and facts (more often when I come back from a trip) but for ease of reference I’ve developed a techy-type solution for recording what I’ve seen. This enables me to quickly review sightings, where and when I saw them and any other relevant information. This is primarily for my own benefit and enjoyment, but I also use it to provide data for our local wildlife group, which feeds into the county wildlife trust.

I’ve developed this database slightly this year to include photos I’ve taken of sightings (if I took a photo that is.) This makes for a reasonable reference system. This database is build around Microsoft’s Access database system and although I’m in no way a techy type programmer and it might seem a little primitive to hard core database builders, it serves its purpose.

Bucks meet weekend

I’m off to Buckinghamshire tomorrow to meet up with the folks in that area for a weekend meet. As usual a pretty full schedule of events has been planned and I’ll post what happened next week. Weather? The last 3 events have seen freezing temperatures; a storm, high winds and torrential rain. The weekend forecast is 6 to 8C day and -1 to 4C night; rain Friday, sunny Saturday and Sunday; 12 – 15 mph westerly winds. Hah! Veritably tropical - but I’ll still pack my wool blanket!

Thanks for the visit.

Pablo.

It’s some time since I wrote about journals and note-taking.

This year I’ve decided to experiment in the way I keep my wildlife and bushcraft notes. Previously, I’ve kept all notes in a small hard back Paperblanks journal. I’ve used various versions of these notebooks for years going back to 1988 and have a nice looking collection. During (rare) spare moments, I like to read what I was doing or what the weather was like on exactly the same week in different years.

Since starting an on-line journal like this blog, I found that I was repeating a lot of information, which has turned out to be quite time consuming. Also, being quite organised, I wasn’t happy with searching through the hard copy journal to find the information I wanted because the diary, wildlife observations, kit lists and other information were scattered about the notebook.

This year, I’m going to keep a different type of journal in the form of a Filofax type ring binder. I can section off different areas for wildlife and bushcraft, maintain the actual journal and insert sketches and maps where I like. The problem is that the Filofax binder, although an ideal size for making notes and drawings, is a little too big to carry about as a matter of course during excursions. So I’ve decided to still maintain a small field notebook for notes, sketches and quick observations in the field. I intend to transfer these field notes to the Filofax (I can just punch a couple of holes in the paper and slot it in) and add any sketches or additional information, thus keeping the Filfax as a main journal at home.

I tend to have a reasonably good memory for events in the field, which is prompted by the photos I bring back. A sort of photo journal will be maintained in this blog.

I will probably miss having a nice hard backed book as a wildlife and bushcraft journal, but we’ll see how it goes.

Pablo.

Today is the first anniversary of this blog. I’ve done 57 entries and had 152 profile views. I’m amazed that the number of post views has risen from 0 to 824 per month over the year. Visitors have ‘dropped in’ from literally all over the world. West to East coast USA, nearly all the European countries, Australia, Africa, Sweden, Japan, Turkey and Norway and of course the UK. I am delighted have particular visitors like the American Bushman, Sam from Woodcraft in Poland and Mungo who are kind enough to leave regular comments (still waiting for a comment from Monty).

I didn’t expect that I would enjoy this so much. I’ve always kept a hard copy journal, but to be honest, recently I’ve come in from a day in the woods, looked at the photos and got straight down to writing the blog. I often go out to the woods with a “What can I write about today” approach. A project or kit review then forms the essence of that excursion. The entry numbers reflect that I post at least once a week and sometimes I have to hold back and not write too many posts at once. I’m also conscious of not boring you guys to death with long, rambling posts. I’ve not yet touched on some areas that I want to write about, so I guess there’s more to come.

I wouldn’t have continued without you, the visitor. So a heartfelt thanks. I hope that the posts will continue to entertain if not inform. I said in my first post, “Follow me on this jouney into both the known and the unknown.” A year on, I’ll say, “Continue to follow me on my journey. There’s plenty more to discover.”

Pablo

3 days to go to the Bushmoot…not that I’m counting.

While I’m there, I intend to make copious notes about what’s going on, skills that I’ll undoubtedly pick up and the normal observations about the apparent abundance of wildlife in the area. I will probably make notes in a diary type of format in my field journal. Nature notes, sketches and observations will also go in the journal. There’s no doubt that hard copy written notes are far superior to electronic format for a personal reference, and I’ve always kept some form of notebook or field journal. The journal entry usually starts off with a weather report followed by notes of the excursion and wildlife observations. I usually make a list of sightings at the the end of the entry.

I tend to use a small pocket sized hardback book like the brown one on the left of the picture. These are made by Paperblanks but Moleskines are just as good. The journal goes in a weatherproof holder with a pencil and pen. Unless I’m doing a diary type entries or making observations or drawings in the field, I tend to wait until I’m at home to write out the full entry.

I must admit to being influenced by a book I purchased many years ago A Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady by Edith Holden. This exquisite facsimile of her actual diary is full of wildlife & nature observations and wonderful drawings. I’ve recently extended by my own journal entries to include notes of a Bushcraft theme, including kit carried, tasks carried out and what I would and wouldn’t do next time. It’s a mixture of all these notes that I copy to put up on these pages. I also like to make entries in a simple MS Access database. The entries are archived and reset at the beginning of the new year to record the new years sightings. A tick box enables me to see at a glance sightings that I’ve never seen before.

Of course the huge advantage of a web journal is the ability to be able to share your thoughts and observations with others. I often think about the people who read this blog and if it wasn’t for you guys and girls and the positive comments you make, I wouldn’t have the motivation to carry on. So a heartfelt thanks. Have you read Mondays entry below? I’ll probably make one more entry before I go.

Did I say 3 days to go? I’m sure it’s 2!