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Notebooks (1 Viewer)

C

cjay

Well-known member
Always take a notebook with you when birding. Write down everything you see including numbers sexes & plumages. Include what the bird is doing eating etc. It is all very valuable when you take your notes home & write them up properly in a big book.

CJ
 
I agree with you two. I can't possibly remember things without writing them down. I'm amazed that most people don't seem to have a notebook with them in hides. Perhaps they do it from memory once they get home.
 
But the next big question is... what brand of notebook to use? Which ones cope with bad weather? Should we use a pencil or a pen? Mark Cocker in his book 'Birders - Tales of a Tribe' (Essential reading for all birders) suggests Alwych notebooks are best. What do you use?
 
"Blackn Red" A6 no: C66655. A black hardbound book witha red spine. A pen is mor permanant. I use BTO codes for my birds. I also write notes about the weather & bird behaviour, These books are by far the best.

When I get home all my notes are copied into "The Bird Log"
& my Nature Diaries. Then they are put onto my bird database.
Ona good day it takes over five hours. I enjoy my recording work as much as my day's out in the field.

CJ
 
Twitchers, mainly, but it does contain some amusing anecdotes about birders in general. I believe it's now out in paperback.

Tony
 
We have more notebooks then I actually know what to do with and invertitably we do not write things down when we are actually in the field.. when we are again in the car we do write down what we see, the GPS location and what weather and etc .
I usually have so much stuff with me, as I do not move without my camera binos and stuff.
Once back home I make notes in my Nat Graph Life List book and then do notations in my big bird info book that only myself could ever read...I enjoy recounting past experiences and find it informative to have some actual data from that particular day moment and type of day!
We like a hard cover smallish book with ring spine and non lined pages.. I use a pencil as it is easier to make some small pictoral things with that... (Lee is the artist not me)
 
Thanks for that T0ny.

Now we've sorted out which notebook and which pen/pencil to use, what about the problem of keeping everything dry? How do people get round the vagueries of the British weather?
 
Jacobi & Jayne do a birders notebook that not only has stiff plastic covers but the paper is also waterproof. The sell a pen to go with it and you can write in the pouring rain with no problem - no smudges or running and the paper does not tear when wet. They do 2 sizes too and the covers have generic bird diagrams noting the anatomy. Perfect
 
Peter - Mark Crockers book is the story of his life as a Birder from his youth up but also describes what we are like as a 'tribe'. The differences between twitchers and birders. It talks about many twitching trips and also stories about Cley, R A Richardson and so on. Required reading, I think, for all birders.
 
HI Mike. If you fill in the form on this page http://birdcare.com/bin/jjccat_form then they send you their brochure - you can order the notebooks from that. I have tried the small one and the pen and can recommend both highly. The bird food they sell is top quality but way overpriced I feel. Happy shopping.
 
I also have a copy of 'Birders'. If anyone going to Slimbash wants to borrow then feel free.

The BTO also do a waterproof notebook (cover and pages) but the only drawback is it's yellow. They sell them in 2 sizes and a journal size as well.

paj
 
CJ/Paj

I'd love to borrow a copy of Birders. See you at Slimbridge.

Thanks a lot.
 
Like Mr Oddie, I use the policeman's notebooks (a dawn raid on the nearest cop shop!) with a pencil down the sides and they are great cos they slip into your pockets no matter what you're wearing. Can be tricky to write at the bottom few lines in the field though however they are never too big for any shelf in hides. When I get home I type up my birding diary then print them out on large A5 address labels and stick them in a 'Black n Red' book with whatever pictures are necessary.
 
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