When I developed the birdwatching logbooks, I knew that they could only be a very generalised guide to some of the birds in a particular location or habitat, and necessarily a small selection. I made sure the paper was of sufficient quality to allow for any media to be used including paint and inks. The print is robust enough to be drawn or painted over, and there are blank pages and white space to not only stop the booklet feeling crowded, but also to give room for adaptation and embellishment.
So, the idea is to customise your birdwatching logbook depending on what you see, where you are, and how long you intend to use it. For instance, perhaps you’re on holiday somewhere in the UK, or have a weekend with friends, or it’s half term and you want a focus with your children or grandchildren. As I’m based in Sussex I have a number of southern England titles but really, any logbook can be made to fit your location.
Here are some ideas:
Use a tie or bulldog clip to keep your logbook closed and any loose contents safe. I’ve used some recycled string, secured with a couple of staples on the back cover. You could also keep it in a decorated envelope or little bag, or if you’re handy with a sewing machine, make a little jacket for it.
Inside the book, there are some pages that you can decorate according to the season, or place.
And in mine, I have glued on a small envelope to the back cover for things I’ve found, such as feathers or a nice leaf, or to remind me of a day out, like a receipt (or train/car park ticket etc).
In each title there are some seasonal migrants, and depending on the time of year you’re filling in your logbook, you may not be seeing them. I like to substitute a migratory species for one that I’m seeing a lot of, but isn’t included in the book. For instance, this year I have seen lots of Blackcaps around my regular walk but they aren’t in Town & Country Garden Birds, so I have stuck a piece of sketchbook paper over the top of the Fieldfare – not many of those in Sussex in June – and painted myself a new female Blackcap to go in its place.
Ofcourse, my stickers can be used too. Here I have a combination of paintings, drawings, and stickers.
Another way to expand the logbook real estate and provide more space for observations is to stick in a fold-out piece of sketchbook paper. You could also use found paper; Kraft paper; textured, coloured or tinted paper; or specialist paper if you have a particular medium you enjoy such as pastel, watercolour or mixed-media. This option also means you can have a much larger piece than the constraints of the size of the logbook: the number of sheets in the booklet and the binding means there is room to accommodate more pages and still fold flat. You might want a fold out sheet of A4, a long portrait or landscape, or even a diary, calendar or journal page.
The point of the logbook is to provide a record of a particular time and place. It’s something to use, keep, cherish, and look back on, and be a valuable reminder of what you’ve seen. It’s designed to be an ideal starting point for your own relationship with nature, and to provide enough basic information for you to build on, all for the price of a trip to a coffee shop.
How will you customise yours?
