1. Patience
A caterpillar quietly chewing, but looking closer there's an ant as well (image: TalkingNature.com)
The best way to observe nature is to simply go slowly.
Next time you’re in the bush or strolling through a grassland slow down and just look around – find a place to stop and sit quietly.
After 5 or 10 minutes you’ll see all sorts of animals. Some that scurried away and hid when they heard you coming, and others walking past you in a hurry.
Patience outside a burrow, or patience within view of a nest will often be rewarded with the opportunity to see the animal that uses it. It’s quite amazing how quickly animals start to resume their activities when you sit quietly among them. All you need is a little patience!
2. Perseverance
Perseverance goes hand in hand with patience.
If you find a burrow or a nest, you might not see the owner on your first trip, but if you persevere you’ll probably see it on the second or third trip.
Persevering and patiently watching over a period of time brings familiarity. The animals you’re watching may get used to you, realise you’re no threat, eventually accepting you and behaving as if you weren’t there.
A juvenile chimp (http://www.flickr.com/photos/tambako/ / CC BY-ND 2.0)
Patience and perseverance is how Dr Jane Goodall was accepted into a family of chimpanzees and learned about their social structure and behaviour, changing how we see ourselves as humans.
3. Knowledge
Knowing that something you see is special, different or odd is how discoveries are made. Many scientific discoveries were initially stumbled upon, almost by accident (have a look at penicillin). But the scientists knew something odd was happening. They had enough knowledge to realise that something more would be found with a little probing. The same applies for a naturalist.
Your knowledge about the patterns of bark on a tree may alert you to odd scratches on a tree trunk, indicating the presence of a Quoll! “Runways” through the grass may indicate that Xeroymes lives near by.
As you learn more about your local environment the more you’ll discover, see and understand. Your world will be richer because you will see the nature around you.
4. An inquiring mind
An inquiring mind is the driving force behind a naturalist. A desire to understand the nature they see, to know more about how those animals and plants interact; who eats who, how do they escape, how do they survive the heat and the cold?
The stronger the desire to understand the more you’ll learn, and the more questions you’ll have! Learning about nature always leads to more questions.
5. A notebook, camera or video
Sharing your knowledge and discoveries is what being a naturalist and scientist is all about. A picture’s worth a thousand words. Pictures reveal the beauty of nature that many people will never see.
For your own purposes of course, a picture is a great reference for those difficult to identify species.
Naturalists immerse themselves in nature, the real world. They see, interact with and appreciate nature in a way that other people rarely experience.
E. O. Wilson is a naturalist among other things. In his book Naturalist he describes his adventures with nature throughout his life, and his quest to understand the beauty of nature that he immersed himself in. It’s still taking him on a journey that started in 1936.
This ant may be 'farming' aphids for there sweet secretions (http://www.flickr.com/photos/viamoi/ / CC BY 2.0)
“A child comes to the edge of deep water with a mind prepared for wonder”
Next time you’re in the ‘wilds’, take some time, slow down, wait, sit, observe. You’ll discover many things missed by those who rush by. Be careful though, if you’re curious, you might get hooked!
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Really nice description. Completely true.
Being out is not only about being out but also about being aware of what is surrounding you, and appreciate or even better, interpret it.
Hi Rako
Absolutely. it’s like listening to music or viewing art, it’s so much better when you understand it.
Thanks Rako
Great post, and so true! I wonder if there’s also room for another point: seeing the positives. Much of what naturalists do takes them outside of their ‘comfort’ zone, which can be seen as negative by many people (“Why would you go out in the rain to see frogs?). It’s the ability to focus on the good aspects of an experience that means we keep doing what we do!
Hi Dave,
I guess that’s another quality of a naturalist, being prepared to get wet, cold, hot, bitten by mozzies and a little bit frightened sometimes.
But I guess that’s what people call ‘living”.
James
What a thoughtful entry. I take a lot of photographs in the woods by my house to use in my science classes, and the students are always in awe. “How did you find that mushroom/bug/butterfly/bone/leaf?”
They think I’m being sarcastic (surely not!) when I reply “I looked.”
Hi Joy,
It is amazing how much you can find when you slow down and take the time to look. A bit of knowledge helps too. Your students will be out there themselves one day with their own cameras I’m sure.
I’ll put a link to your blog on our list of links on our side bar.
Have fun out there in the woods
Really nice description. Completely true.
Being out is not only about being out but also about being aware of what is surrounding you, and appreciate or even better, interpret it.
Hi Ruth,
I observe a lot in my garden all the time.Great watching the ants doing their thing with the aphids now they no longer frequent my home!
Love watching spiders spinning their webs too.
And of course observing my beloved birds.
Love what you and James have added to your website.
Even the comments on dingo’s dead donga’s!
This post is really very cool. Sometimes i really wonder that Nature is so simple yet so complicated. Watching around to woods, birds, flowers, river or anything like that Patiently can be so much soothing that anything in the world cannot match its peace and happiness….