WILD SEMESTER
FIELD NOTES
GENERAL INFORMATION
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You are required to keep a journal of field notes throughout this program, beginning
from the moment we depart Furman until you return to your warm and snuggly home in
November.
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In addition to providing an awesome memento of this unforgettable trip, your field notes
will be a scientific reference containing invaluable observational data that can be used by
other professionals into eternity. Please keep this aspect in mind. Keeping detailed field
notes is a skill that all ecologists and wildlife biologists have and use when conducting
research.
Naturalists have kept field notebooks for centuries.Charles Darwin, on his epic voyage as naturalist
on HMS Beagle, kept detailed field notes that stimulated his thinking about evolution and natural
selection and formed the basis for much of his subsequent work. When Lewis & Clark were sent off
to explore the interior of the United States, they were given specific and detailed instructions by
Thomas Jefferson as to the records they were expected to keep. Neither of these men was an expert
in natural history, yet much of the information they compiled was new to science. Most of us are
not called upon to explore a continent, but occasionally we might come across a detail about the
world around us that others may find of interest and when combined with the observations of other
might well prove to be important.
* The quality of the details written affects how seriously the record is taken.*
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Traditionally, field notebooks follow a system developed in the early 20th Century by
Joseph Grinnell, the preeminent naturalist of his time. Grinnell's own journal began on 1
January 1894, and ended on 25 May 1939, five days before his death.
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The idea behind the Grinnell system is to turn you from a passive recorder of information
into a participant in a dialogue with nature. Rather than just recording bits of data, you poke,
explore and cross-examine nature in order to sluice nuggets of knowledge from what you
see. Sluice away!
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In this system, field notes are divided into 3 sections: the Journal, the Species Accounts,
and the Catalog. The Journal consists of accurate accounts of your field activities. This
handout is concerned primarily with this section of your field notes. The Species Accounts
include information about any species that is of particular interest to you; this section is not
required in this course. The Catalog includes detailed information about each specimen you
collect (yes, you will contribute to the invaluable compendium of knowledge stored in natural
history museums, and it will involve dead animals), including when and where it was
collected.
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The recommended procedure is to write your notes directly into your field notebook in
the field. However, you may take temporary notes in a second, smaller "field" notebook, then
transcribe these notes to your permanent notebook. Transcription should be done as soon as
possible after you leave the field, and always the same day as your field trip. Use only
waterproof, permanent, black ink in your notebook. "Pigma" pens and Fiber-tip pens made by
"Sharpie," with "ultra fine" points seem to work well, as do the "uni-ball vision micro," made
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by Sanford, with waterproof/fade-proof ink. Ball-point pens are not acceptable, since their ink
tends to fade with age and they sometimes fail to work at certain temperatures.
GUIDELINES AND CONSIDERATIONS FOR YOUR JOURNAL
Remember: your field notes represent a formal scientific documentation of the flora and fauna,
as well as the physical and social environments of the regions through which you travel. As
such, your field notes represent a valuable source of information to other professionals,
including biologists, geologists, politicians, journalists, doctors, and lawyers, and are also
admissible as evidence in a court of law. Above all, your field notes should be honest,
accurate, and relevant. The requirements of honesty and accuracy should be self-explanatory.
Students seem to have the most trouble with this last standard: relevancy.
As a biologist, you want to record:
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Recorder's name
Dates, written "historian style": day month year. Use leading zeros. In this format the
Declaration of Independence was signed on 04 July 1776.
Time: Use the 24-hour military time format that avoids the need for "PM" or "AM". Thus
7:25 AM is 0725, and 3:30 PM becomes 1530.
Number the pages of your journal consecutively in the uppermost, right-hand corner of
each page.
Try to use metric measurements whenever you can.
Precise location from general to specific (see format below).
Directions to reach location: "We took Highway 52 west from Cuchillo for 22 miles until
we reached the town of Winston. From there, we turned south…."
Climate: precipitation, cloud cover (%), temperature, wind
Habitat types AND descriptions
Significant historical events: "This grassland burned last week." or "This area was logged
10 years ago."
The identity of plants and animals that you observe, using scientific names (minimally)
and common names. Underline all species names given as scientific names.
The number of individuals of each type you observe. This may be in relative terms (eg
common or rare)
The habitat associations of these organisms
Their behaviors or characteristics (feeding, nest building, flowering, in fruit, attacking)
The DETAILS of your own research: history, location, hypothesis, methods, results,
conclusions
Information you receive from other professionals: "Dr. Ernest told us that shrub density
has increased at this site more than three-fold.”
Descriptions of the other professionals you encounter, including institutional affiliations
and contact information
Any other personal or factual information that you want to preserve
TRADE-OFFS
It is simply a fact of life that you will not have the time to record all of the relevant information
that you collect in a day. You also want to have the time for the experience of collecting that
daily information, experiencing the local environment, conducting your research, etc. You will
have to decide how much time to allocate to field note writing. The amount of time you set aside
will determine how valuable and or useful your notes are for you and for others. You should
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learn to write concisely as this will both reduce your writing time and maximize the information
content of your notes. The quality of your field notes will, of course, be reflected in your grade.
Cultivate brevity. We are taught that expanded prose connotes erudition. There is neither
time nor place for verbosity in your notes. Force yourself to pack as much information and
clarity as you can into the fewest words. Omit needless words. Strive for economy and
precision.
GRADING
Your field notes are worth 15% of your grade for Field Zoology and 15% of your grade in African
Ecology. Grading will be accomplished in two ways. First, notes will be spot checked to see that
each day contains the basic information of: Recorder, Date, and Location. Second, a few
specific days at random will be chosen and each person’s field notes read for those days. A
relative ranking and corresponding grade for each student's journal will be assigned based on
the amount of accurate information recorded. Inaccurate information, such as incorrectly
described localities or misspelled or erroneous scientific names, will count against you. The
fullness of your schedules, illnesses, or any other mitigating circumstances WILL be taken into
consideration. We are not heartless.
FORMAT OF FIELD NOTES HEADER
* This should be on the top of every single doggoneit page *
Name
Date
Locality General: country
Locality More Specific: state or province
Locality Most Specific: county or region; city or town;
park, reserve, ranch; roads, river; latitude and
longitude if available
Page Number
A SAMPLE PAGE OF FIELD NOTES
Johnny Furman
3 September 2007
USA, New Mexico, Sierra County, Gila
National Forest, Ladder Ranch, Hermosa
N 33 09.43’ W 107 43.79
Datum WGS 1984
Page 25
I woke up this morning at 0600. The temperature was 63 F. I could hear a Pinyon Jay
(Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus) calling from a ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) near the
kitchen. After a breakfast of left-over bison (Bison bison), the class took a short instructional
hike from the old barn, north along the main road, west up Palomas creek, south along the U.S.
Forest Service trail that connects the road to Mud Mountain to FS Trail 111 (Spud Patch
Canyon Trail) and then east along this trail, FS 111, back to Hermosa. The weather was clear
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and sunny, 0% cloud cover. Drs. Thibault and Perry pointed out various things along the way
and gave us a little natural history lesson on each. Dr. Thibault pointed out prickly poppy
(Argemone mexicana; Family Papaveraceae) growing along the roadside. The plant was c. 100
cm tall, fuzzy, with wavy, spiky leaves. The white flower was c. 8 cm in diameter, with 50+
short, bright yellow stamens in the center. She told us that these plants are typical of disturbed
habitats. Fire, overgrazing, and construction often create the conditions that favor this plants
germination. Growing in a roadside ditch is typical for this plant. At Palomas creek we found
cougar (Puma concolor) tracks! Dr. Perry told us that the tracks were most likely made by an
adult male. The width of the heel pads in tracks of adult cougars can be used to make an
educated guess as to their sex. Male cougars in southern New Mexico typically have front paw
heel pads greater than 65mm in width. The hind heel pad is typically smaller. These tracks
were: Right front paw – 74mm, right hind paw 65mm. The width of the heel pads and the depth
of the tracks in the substrate indicated that this was a bigger than average male. On the
connector trail we saw a black-tailed jack rabbit (Lepus californicus) huddled under a oneseeded juniper (Juniperus monosperma ). The jack rabbit is the second fastest mammal in
North America, capable of speeds of 45 mph. They are common prey of gray foxes (Urocyon
cinereoargenteus), coyotes (Canis latrans), and Golden Eagles (Aquila chrysaetos). The oneseeded juniper is distinctive of a particular habitat type, corresponding to given elevation zones
throughout the west. Here they are found between 6,000 and 8,000 feet. At higher latitudes
they are found at lower elevations. They produce berries that are eaten by black bears (Ursus
americanus), coyotes, and gray foxes. We returned to Hermosa at around noon. By this time
the temperature was 94 F. We had lunch and had the rest of the day to ourselves. Around 2:00
Suzy Paladin caught a male desert spiny lizard (Sceloporus magister) on the front porch of the
hotel. We knew it was a male by the bright blue throat patch. I spent my afternoon writing field
notes and studying for tomorrow’s exam.
Elliot Coues, one of America's most important ornithologists of the Nineteenth Century,
offered the following advice in his Field Ornithology (1874):
"Now you know these things, but very likely no one else does; and you know them at the
time, but you will not recollect a tithe of them in a few weeks of months, to say nothing of
years. Don't trust your memory, it will trip you up; what is clear now will grow obscure; what
is found will be lost. Write down everything while it is fresh in your mind; write it out in full -time so spent now will be time saved in the end, when you offer your researches to the
discriminating public. Don't be satisfied with a dry-as-dust item; clothe a skeleton fact, and
breathe life into it with thoughts that glow; let the paper smell of the woods. There's a pulse
in a new fact; catch the rhythm before it dies. Keep off the quicksands of mere memorandum
-- that means something "to be remembered", which is just what you cannot do.... Be sparing
of sentiment, a delicate thing, easily degraded to drivel; crude enthusiasm always hacks
instead of hewing. Beware of literary infelicities; "the written word remains", it may be, after
you have passed away; put down nothing for your friend's blush, or your enemy's sneer;
write as if a stranger were looking over your shoulder." [cited in Steve Herman, The
Naturalist's Field Journal. A Manual of Instruction Based on a System Established by Joseph
Grinnell. Bueto Books, 1986. Second printing 1989, p. 29.]
THE PALEST INK IS BETTER THAN THE BEST MEMORY. (Old Chinese Proverb)
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