#february journaling

[savvyjournaling]

February 24, 2023

I’ve been in a terrible mood these past few days so this entry is honestly just me doing a lot of complaining.

I’ve been reading the Hades X Persephone series by Scarlett St. Clair, both Persephone’s and Hades’. And I’ve been continuing to watch Critical Role campaign two, I’m currently on episode 27.

[savvyjournaling]

February 20, 2023

[savvyjournaling]

February 8, 2023

bought a bunch of books and like two tops today. spent time with my best friend and ate sushi 😊

[thehomesteadporch]

Winter Birds Nature Journaling

This February's nature journaling challenge was Birds of Winter. I couldn't have been more excited to get started, since I wake up every morning to a forest full of birds flittering about and squirrels scampering up and down the trees.

I took this challenge seriously, making it an opportunity to heighten my senses and pay more attention that I typically would. Every hike turned into a hunt for birds.

Some of the birds, like the bright red cardinal and his mate, visit almost daily and perch on a bush right outside my window. Sometimes they're the first thing to greet me when I open my eyes.

This bright headed Pileated woodpecker hogs our bird feeder regularly, but it was his call that caught my attention one winter day this month. He really did sound just like Woody Woodpecker from the cartoon!

Two other varieties of woodpecker frequent out forest as well. The small Red Bellied Woodpecker and mid size Downy Woodpecker. I really wish I'd had room to paint every single bird I found!

The Merlin app was super helpful in identifying the birds I observed. A couple of them were identified by their sounds via a recording feature on the app.

Others were identified by a questionnaire in the app which would ultimately lead you to the bird you just saw but didn't know the name of. This is how I identified the flock of eastern bluebirds that were playing games in my magnolia tree right outside my bedroom window.

I discovered the red tailed hawk when he (or she) did a quick fly by while on a back country drive through College Grove, TN. Another pair flew by on a road trip to east TN.

Sometimes you don't have to be out in nature to find beautiful birds. A whole flock of pretty little yellow American goldfinches were playing in the shrubs on a median strip of a busy 6 lane high traffic road on my visit to norcal.

I really did hope the beautiful Barred Owl that visited us last year would return but I haven't seen him since. There's nothing I love more than laying in bed listening to the hooting of nearby owls. That barred owl stayed long enough for me to get a pretty good pic, but sadly never returned.

For visual interest I added a color palette area and since I didn't have room to paint all the birds I saw, I listed additional birds in a call out box on the upper left corner of the page.

Hope you enjoyed this little flip through!