Below are a number of resources, ranging from favorite books to nature journaling tools and more!
Nature Journaling Downloadables – Below are free downloadable resources. These are for personal, non-commercial use only.
Recommended Books
- The Genius Of Birds by Jennifer Ackerman
- What An Owl Knows by Jennifer Ackerman
- Eight Bears by Gloria Dickie
- Eager by Ben Goldfarb
- Flight Paths by Rebecca Heisman
- Beaverland by Leila Philip
- Finding The Mother Tree by Suzanne Simard
- When the Forest Breathes by Suzanne Simard
- Nature’s Best Hope by Douglas Tallamy
- The Backyard Bird Chronicles by Amy Tan
- Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer
- Gathering Moss by Robin Wall Kimmerer
- The Serviceberry by Robin Wall Kimmerer
- The Nature Fix by Florence Williams
- The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben
Apps – these are a few that I use for identification and tracking
- Merlin from Cornell Lab – https://merlin.allaboutbirds.org/
- eBird – https://ebird.org/home
- iNaturalist – https://www.inaturalist.org/
Recommended Nature Journaling Tools
- Graphite Pencils – I like Staedtler
- Micron Pens – start with black ink, but also available in light cool grey, dark cool grey, and sepia
- Journal – I like Canson Mixed Media. Choose a material based on your needs. I like 5.5”x8.5” because it fits easily in my bag.
- Eraser – I like Staedtler Polymer Erasers
- Bonus Items
- Prismacolor Non-Photo Blue Pencils – really nice for sketching light lines
- Colored Pencils – I use Faber Castell Polychromos
- Watercolor – I have been using Koi Watercolors (they have a good travel size kit) with a waterbrush, though I recently started using eco-friendly paints from Beam Paints
- Camera: cell phone or another camera – I like having something that can zoom in and take close up shots. I currently use my iPhone and a Panasonic Lumix DC-FZ80.
- Binoculars – having tools to see at a distance is helpful. I have a pair of Nikon Trailblazers that I like because they are compact and easy to throw in my bag.
- Bag – there is a lot of personal preference in this. Some nature journalers like to carry a gear kit in the field, others like to travel light. I have two different STM Pouches in the A5 and B5 sizes. I like that I can carry pens, pencils, measuring tools, and more in a strapped pouch that zips up, especially when traveling. Other times I travel light with my journal and a couple writing utensils thrown in my Fjallraven or another daypack.
