One of the most important tools for the field researcher in any discipline is taking adequate notes. It is poor practice to attempt to commit things to memory since it has been shown that time and other influences can drastically alter the quality of those memories when recalled.
There are varied ways of making notes and multiple approaches to the type of thought processes used when deciding exactly what to record in your notes. If you are really that interested in the exhaustive details there are plenty of sites that provide such things ad nauseam - just do a search and have fun reading.
The following link is a somewhat simplistic description of how to take field notes (with examples) without getting too wordy or technical.
How to make Field Notes
In addition to keeping a journal and possibly a species account, you should be drawing plans of sites where physical evidence is encountered, especially if samples are taken. You may also draw sketches of sightings that were unable to be photographically recorded.
Such plans and sketches can be done within the particular journal entry or you may use another field book for these provided they are linked to the journal entry in some way. Depending on how accurate you are able to be, it may be an aid to use a Field Notes book with a graph or dotted grid on the page for setting a scale and positioning features more accurately in the diagram to that scale.
Example Site Plan using graph grid.
The Journal and Species accounts can be done on plain paper or more often on ruled pages with a margin. Books of this sort should be small for field use and if several are used you can pick up a protective cover to fit them in together. The site below carries a range of products you may find suitable.
Field Notes books available online
Until next time....
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