Challenge 28: Spot something wild everyday for a week

Points available: 4

About the challenge

Plan a short walk near where you live that would take you 30 minutes to walk. Walk this route every day for a week, remembering to stop, look and listen at regular intervals. You’ll begin to spot small changes in what you see as plants grow or begin to flower or you’ll find hotspots where you might hear more birds. Try changing the time of day of your walk. Does this make a difference to what you see and hear?

Helpful tips

You can develop your skill further by making sketches of the things you see, writing notes to describe what you’ve seen, and adding photographs. You’ll be amazed with that there is so much to make a note of.

You could make a journal or scrapbook with notes, sketches, and photos of what you've seen so you don’t lose your records. Can you go further and keep a nature journal for a month or even a year?

More information

Wildlife researchers build up their knowledge of an area in the same way through careful fieldcraft and are able to work out the territories of birds and where they are nesting.

There is even a nature journaling  week at the beginning of June  www.naturejournalingweek.com

You don't need a fancy journal or notebook, the Natural History Museum  have produced  a  quick guide to making your own nature  journal using recycled materials