Always up for a notebook conversation! I don't generally carry a notebook when hiking or walking through the woods or a city, but I do carry index cards. I read that tip years ago and always found it useful if I notice something or have an idea. I generally draft essays in a Mead composition book, but for my private journal it's unlined and spiral-bound with a hard cover (I buy these in bulk, added bonus for the fun of flipping through the pages of an aged math textbook: https://www.bookjournals.com). For taking notes from interviews, etc., and sometimes for carrying around, I use a notebook from Shinola Detroit (https://www.shinola.com/home/journals.html?master_product_type=Journals) that I don't think they make anymore. It was pretty much a copy of a Moleskine one that I have had trouble finding, too, an unlined, paper cover, maybe 6 X 4 inches?
I use a 5x8-ish hardcover notebook for genuine field biology, mostly taking data, and find it too small for drafting essays. And although I think we're alike as writers (I aspire to be more like you!) I can't fathom writing on unlined paper. Maybe I need more "structure!: :-) One more important question: Pen or pencil? And I'm going to check out those Shinola journals (I have family near Detroit and sort of know the brand).
I think we are alike as writers! I weirdly cannot do essay drafts on unlined paper, just in the Mead composition notebooks. But cannot write in a private journal with lines. A couple of people have given me nice ones as gifts and I tried but had almost an allergic reaction. I wish I could explain the psychology of that. It's a mystery to me.
I mostly use pens, just plain ball point, whatever Costco is selling that year, although I have one nice, slim Mont Blanc my husband got me years ago that doesn't leave the house. But when I'm skiing or something active like that and have index cards, I keep a tiny pencil in my pocket. They're actually Junior Ranger ones from some national park visit when my kids were little!
Would love to know if you find out more about Shinola. I think I originally got one at a bookstore in Denver and liked that I could support a place like that. It had a good story, though I don't know if that's changed, and I really like the notebooks.
"Cameras change the way we are outside. As we take photos in nature, the camera takes nature from us. Even as we seek to preserve the moment, capture it, bring it home to enjoy again later or share with others, the camera steals some of the moment, some of the raw experience, some of the actual nature." I'm so glad you took the time to write this, like an expansion of what you talked about in the online course. I hadn't thought about it until this moment, but it's similar to the struggle when you have a young kid and you want to capture all the moments but also be in the moment. Even writing is like that: can I just be in this experience and not think about how to turn it into narrative?
Oh, the hours I spend walking and contemplating ledes! Those are my walking meditations. Basically, I can't write a thing until I have a notion of the lede. So I do lose those moments to thinking about writing, and yet it's essential to me as a writer.
A timely post, as I spent a solid 20 minutes this morning seeking out a vireo in a tree that Merlin (damn screen) had convinced me was a Philadelphia (it was red-eyed).
It's a really tough ID. (Glad Merlin got it wrong 😝). The other cool thing — and I think it's true, I'll have to check the literatures again — is that Philadelphia Vireo is more closely related to Warbling Vireo (with a distinctly different song). The similarity of vocalization with Red-eyed Vireo is either convergence or a form of mimicry or both. Go figure!
What do you know? I was right (forgive the included citations):
Philadelphia Vireo imitates the song of Red-eyed Vireo, although the former's song is structurally less complex (Rice 1978b, Rice 1978c). Unlike Red-eyed Vireo, Philadelphia Vireo discriminates between its song, that of Red-eyed Vireo, and songs with modified syntax (Rice 1978b). Playback experiments confirm that because Philadelphia Vireo is considerably smaller than Red-eyed Vireo, it has an incentive to avoid interspecific hostilities (Rice 1978b). The similarity in songs of the 2 species constitutes a form of social convergence in which Philadelphia Vireo can advertise/defend territories without having to confront Red-eyed Vireos physically. Social mimicry thereby maintains interspecific territorial integrity (Rice 1978b).
Cite for this particular excerpt: Moskoff, W. and S. K. Robinson (2020). Philadelphia Vireo (Vireo philadelphicus), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (A. F. Poole, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.phivir.01
I too thought this was going to be an article about Dippers! Thank you for this, Bryan; I feel seen, as the kids would say. I think it’s one of those focus and attention things. I personally would prefer to not bother to use tech-- I’d rather just be out in the field looking at stuff, but I know need to take some photos for my own education (& to amuse ppl on Mastodon). I guess just be balanced about it? As you say here, essentially.
I relate completely to what you're saying about photography getting in the way of being with nature. As someone who takes a lot of joy in wildlife photography and bringing that to others even if it's just one person AND someone who like to just watch, observe, and soak in the experience of such spaces, I try to strike a balance. I spend a lot of time doing the latter and keep only few minutes for photography. It's fine by me if I 'miss a shot' as a result :-) It's worked well for me.
I guess I go into two modes: photo mode and (without camera) wider awareness mode, and maybe nothing in between. In the presence of that Ovenbird, it only took me a second or two to not regret not having the camera for what would have been a money shot. And then, oh, did I enjoy the look. Maybe to borrow from Agassiz: "Look at your bird!" :-)
I'm there with ya, buddy. Even giving up the binocs to just see what I see.
And I’m with ya there without binos (never without our hand lenses, though, right? 😀) as well!
And, silly me, I was expecting something about Dippers.
Ha! top-notch comment! 😀
Always up for a notebook conversation! I don't generally carry a notebook when hiking or walking through the woods or a city, but I do carry index cards. I read that tip years ago and always found it useful if I notice something or have an idea. I generally draft essays in a Mead composition book, but for my private journal it's unlined and spiral-bound with a hard cover (I buy these in bulk, added bonus for the fun of flipping through the pages of an aged math textbook: https://www.bookjournals.com). For taking notes from interviews, etc., and sometimes for carrying around, I use a notebook from Shinola Detroit (https://www.shinola.com/home/journals.html?master_product_type=Journals) that I don't think they make anymore. It was pretty much a copy of a Moleskine one that I have had trouble finding, too, an unlined, paper cover, maybe 6 X 4 inches?
I use a 5x8-ish hardcover notebook for genuine field biology, mostly taking data, and find it too small for drafting essays. And although I think we're alike as writers (I aspire to be more like you!) I can't fathom writing on unlined paper. Maybe I need more "structure!: :-) One more important question: Pen or pencil? And I'm going to check out those Shinola journals (I have family near Detroit and sort of know the brand).
I think we are alike as writers! I weirdly cannot do essay drafts on unlined paper, just in the Mead composition notebooks. But cannot write in a private journal with lines. A couple of people have given me nice ones as gifts and I tried but had almost an allergic reaction. I wish I could explain the psychology of that. It's a mystery to me.
I mostly use pens, just plain ball point, whatever Costco is selling that year, although I have one nice, slim Mont Blanc my husband got me years ago that doesn't leave the house. But when I'm skiing or something active like that and have index cards, I keep a tiny pencil in my pocket. They're actually Junior Ranger ones from some national park visit when my kids were little!
Would love to know if you find out more about Shinola. I think I originally got one at a bookstore in Denver and liked that I could support a place like that. It had a good story, though I don't know if that's changed, and I really like the notebooks.
"Cameras change the way we are outside. As we take photos in nature, the camera takes nature from us. Even as we seek to preserve the moment, capture it, bring it home to enjoy again later or share with others, the camera steals some of the moment, some of the raw experience, some of the actual nature." I'm so glad you took the time to write this, like an expansion of what you talked about in the online course. I hadn't thought about it until this moment, but it's similar to the struggle when you have a young kid and you want to capture all the moments but also be in the moment. Even writing is like that: can I just be in this experience and not think about how to turn it into narrative?
Oh, the hours I spend walking and contemplating ledes! Those are my walking meditations. Basically, I can't write a thing until I have a notion of the lede. So I do lose those moments to thinking about writing, and yet it's essential to me as a writer.
Yes! Or phrasings for me, ways of bringing sensory detail to life. But it's all part of being alive as a writer, I think. There *is* a balance.
A timely post, as I spent a solid 20 minutes this morning seeking out a vireo in a tree that Merlin (damn screen) had convinced me was a Philadelphia (it was red-eyed).
It's a really tough ID. (Glad Merlin got it wrong 😝). The other cool thing — and I think it's true, I'll have to check the literatures again — is that Philadelphia Vireo is more closely related to Warbling Vireo (with a distinctly different song). The similarity of vocalization with Red-eyed Vireo is either convergence or a form of mimicry or both. Go figure!
What do you know? I was right (forgive the included citations):
Philadelphia Vireo imitates the song of Red-eyed Vireo, although the former's song is structurally less complex (Rice 1978b, Rice 1978c). Unlike Red-eyed Vireo, Philadelphia Vireo discriminates between its song, that of Red-eyed Vireo, and songs with modified syntax (Rice 1978b). Playback experiments confirm that because Philadelphia Vireo is considerably smaller than Red-eyed Vireo, it has an incentive to avoid interspecific hostilities (Rice 1978b). The similarity in songs of the 2 species constitutes a form of social convergence in which Philadelphia Vireo can advertise/defend territories without having to confront Red-eyed Vireos physically. Social mimicry thereby maintains interspecific territorial integrity (Rice 1978b).
Cite for this particular excerpt: Moskoff, W. and S. K. Robinson (2020). Philadelphia Vireo (Vireo philadelphicus), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (A. F. Poole, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.phivir.01
This is fascinating! Makes me feel better about not being able to ID it by voice, too.
I too thought this was going to be an article about Dippers! Thank you for this, Bryan; I feel seen, as the kids would say. I think it’s one of those focus and attention things. I personally would prefer to not bother to use tech-- I’d rather just be out in the field looking at stuff, but I know need to take some photos for my own education (& to amuse ppl on Mastodon). I guess just be balanced about it? As you say here, essentially.
I relate completely to what you're saying about photography getting in the way of being with nature. As someone who takes a lot of joy in wildlife photography and bringing that to others even if it's just one person AND someone who like to just watch, observe, and soak in the experience of such spaces, I try to strike a balance. I spend a lot of time doing the latter and keep only few minutes for photography. It's fine by me if I 'miss a shot' as a result :-) It's worked well for me.
I guess I go into two modes: photo mode and (without camera) wider awareness mode, and maybe nothing in between. In the presence of that Ovenbird, it only took me a second or two to not regret not having the camera for what would have been a money shot. And then, oh, did I enjoy the look. Maybe to borrow from Agassiz: "Look at your bird!" :-)