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earthstar

~ a celebration of nature

earthstar

Tag Archives: nature journal

Cattle egrets

07 Wednesday Feb 2024

Posted by sconzani in birds

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

birding, birdwatching, British birds, Bubulcus ibis, Cattle egret, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, drawing birds, nature journal, nature journalling

Okay, one more post about nature journaling and, hopefully, that will be the last for a while. The reason I’m focusing on my journal again today is due to the abysmal state of weather forecasting in this country. After several days of un-forecast rain and drizzle, yesterday’s forecast was for more drizzle and rain, so I went out in full waterproofs and with just my cheapo camera. What happened? You guessed it – not a single drop of water fell from the sky until late afternoon, and I didn’t have my good camera with me to take photographs of my first ever local sightings of Cattle egrets. So, this is where drawing comes in handy, to illustrate what I’ve seen.

240207 cattle egret

p.s. The gold star is not me marking my own homework. It’s a visual indication of how superb it was to see these gorgeous egrets in my area.

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Another day, another Jay

06 Tuesday Feb 2024

Posted by sconzani in birds

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

birding, birdwatching, British birds, drawing of Jay, Jay, nature journal, nature journalling

I hesitated before deciding to share this but the truth is that the miserable weather means I’m struggling a little to find daily content for the blog so here we are. I’ve always kept a nature journal, recording my finds from my walks, but this year I’ve decided to challenge myself by illustrating my journal with at least one drawing each day. I initially thought I would draw flora and fauna but so far I’ve focused on birds, and I might just stick to birds this year, as there’s so much to learn – and this is certainly helping to hone my observation skills! As I’m a complete novice when it comes to drawing, I started out copying other people’s quite stylised drawings I found online, using just a black ballpoint. I’ve now progressed to drawing from photos, and using ballpoint and coloured pencils. I hope, eventually, to be able to sketch in the field, and perhaps use watercolours, but I’m just taking things slowly, not pushing myself too hard too soon.
All of which was to explain why today you are seeing my drawings of a Jay’s head! Apparently, you can teach an old dog new tricks.

240206 jay drawing

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About me

sconzani

sconzani

I'm a writer and photographer; researcher and blogger; birder and nature lover; countryside rambler and city strider; volunteer and biodiversity recorder.

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Recent blog posts

  • Red in beak and claw January 9, 2026
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  • Springtail: Orchesella cincta January 7, 2026
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Unless otherwise acknowledged, the text and photographs on this blog are my own and are subject to international copyright. Nothing may be downloaded or copied without my permission.

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