Nature Study

Have you ever stood quietly in the middle of the forest listening to the birds chirp, and the wind rustle through the trees? Have you ever felt the strong connection with nature after spending an evening in the woods? Let me take you on a walk through the woods, and see nature as it should be.

Before we leave we should gather together a few things. First, we grab a pair of binoculars. And we will want to take a camera with us so that we can take a picture of the animal/plant that we want to draw. Now that we have everything together, let’s set out for our nature study in the woods.

As we enter the forest, all of a sudden, the air becomes stiller, and a solemn hush is about us. We feel the springy moss underneath our feet as we walk. Birds chirp, and suddenly, we hear something in the bush at our feet. We jump out of the way just in time for something red, black and yellow, to slither out of the bush. You ask what it is, and I tell you that it is a coral snake. One of the deadliest snakes in Texas! You are a little timid as we walk about, but you are suddenly calmed, when I tell you not to speak, and point to a deer, licking the rocks. I pull out the camera (I told you we would need it!) and shoot a few pictures before it is too late. We hear the soft chirp of a bird in the trees above us, and I get out the binoculars and identify it as an Eastern Blue Bird. You smile, for you have always longed to see one in person! For the rest of our walk, we see other wildlife, such as spiders, and fish, but soon we are ready to journal about some of these things in out Nature Notebook.

We just saw many different kinds of animals, now we have the choice to pick which one we would like to draw, and study up on.  We pull our notebook out of the bag along with a pencil and sketch a picture of our deer in the woods. After we have sketched it we pull out the watercolors and a mason-jar that is filled with water and add some color to our picture. Thankfully we remembered to bring the field-guides and before we are finished we read up a little more about deer. Once we have read about them we write what we have earned next to our picture. Your nature-notebook is yours, and you can pick what you would like to put in it, by choice, that makes it fun and exciting to have a break from school, and study about the nature that God has provided for us to enjoy.

I have filled the pages of many nature note-books, and because I have kept them for many years, I can look back at some of my first books, and realize the progress I have made in only several years. I hope this post has encouraged you to start a Nature Note Book of your own. :)

                                                                                 White-Tailed Deer 

Eastern Blue Bird