*** Digital files - SVG/PNG/DXF/EPS and printables - were retired on 31st December 2025 ***

A Year of Nature Journaling
Following the Seasons...
One Quiet Moment at a Time

I’ve just completed my first full calendar year of nature journaling, so I thought I’d share my thoughts, ideas and inspirations to help you if you too feel inspired to explore your own year of nature journaling…

Nature journaling doesn’t have to be about perfect pages or daily discipline - for me, it’s simply about keeping company with the seasons as they unfold, and noticing the quiet changes that shape the year.

If you’ve ever felt drawn to the seasons but unsure how to record them, this gentle approach might be just right for you...

Journaling about my walk in the woods - what I heard and saw - when I got home...

Over the course of twelve months, a nature journal becomes a place to hold small moments from nature - frost on seedheads, the first birdsong of spring, summer abundance, autumn colour, and the hush of winter days.

Each page is a personal way of slowing down, of paying attention, and of gently weaving nature back into our everyday life.

This is a look at how a year of nature journaling through the seasons can deepen our connection to the land, the seasons, and ourselves - one imperfect, attentive moment at a time...

Why a Year of Nature Journaling Feels Different

Nature journaling through a whole year is the perfect way to stay present with nature through time and season. It’s not just a snapshot, it’s a whole book (literally!).

If each nature journal page is a moment of connection, then a full year of journaling becomes something deeper - a relationship, a quiet familiarity that grows over time.

Seasons shift and the patterns of nature change – and come around again. Familiar birds, trees, and plants become companions to our lives - and we notice even subtle seasonal shifts which change our landscape – and our relationship with nature becomes a living, breathing entity – something we can nurture and respond to.

Hips and sloes nature journal page - becoming attentive to seasonal changes in nature

Nature changes, but it’s also a constant – the patterns and rhythms of the season continue and repeat. As we learn to recognise the changes in the natural world around is, we learn how nature can be a continuity, an anchor when life feels uncertain.

Winter Nature Journaling - Stillness, Survival & Quiet Beauty

(December – February)

Birdwatching in my friend's garden in December

Winter asks us to slow down and notice what endures…

Winter can be one of the hardest seasons to nature journal through as it can be easy to believe that there’s not much to see, but nothing could be further from the truth.

While the weather may feel harsh at this time of year, this in itself brings opportunities for nature journaling about the weather and how the light starts to return from late December.

The trees are bare but it’s a great opportunity to look for first buds and take a closer look at tree structure and bark in your winter nature journal.

Birds are more likely to be in gardens at feeders, or more easily seen amongst the bare branches of our hedgerows, while migratory birds come in their thousands and may be seen on wetlands or in fields, parks and gardens.

We can also take inspiration from the season itself, and use this time as an opportunity for rest, reflection and holding stillness.

Ideas for your Winter Nature Journal

You don’t need to do all of these - one small noticing is enough…

Make small sketches or quiet marks, using muted colours
Try written notes about weather, mood, or quiet moments
Notice what endures even when nothing seems to be blooming

Spring Nature Journaling - Return, Song & New Beginnings

(March – May)

Daffodils are always a welcome symbol of Spring

Spring invites us to listen, watch, and begin again…

As the light returns and days lengthen, the return of the sun puts us in an optimistic mood. The days are filled with birdsong, now, as birds start to defend territories, choose their mate, and start to nest.

Flowers start to fill our hedgerows and gardens which gives us ample opportunity to sit outside, quietly, for our Springtime nature journaling - to get some sunshine and make quick sketches of the colours we see or the shapes of flowers.

The days are filled with hope…

Ideas for your Spring Nature Journal

These are gentle ideas to dip into, not a checklist...

Make quick sketches recording the fresh greens you’ve spotted
Record any 'firsts' of the year you’ve noticed
Gentle beginnings – what does this mean to you?

Summer Nature Journaling - Abundance, Detail & Immersion

(June – August)

Dog roses seen in the hedgerows last summer

Summer encourages immersion - being inside nature rather than observing from the edges…

In the long summer days, nature is filled with an abundance of life – trees and hedgerows are in full leaf and the air is heady with scent from a brilliance of flowers in our gardens around which we can hear the hum of bees.

Butterflies, too, take to the wing and can fill us with joy simply to see them dancing in the air.

Summer can sometimes be overwhelming, too, with the heat feeling oppressive, and the long days feeling busy. Using our nature journals in summer can be very grounding – giving ourselves time to connect with the natural world…

And seeing how nature does allow itself a pause of quiet in the late summer days - as petals fall, yet fruit is not yet ripened, and songbirds fall quiet for their summer moult, while the chicks have already fledged.

Ideas for your Summer nature journal

Just select one or two ideas that appeal - consider this a menu to choose from…

Consider journaling slower, perhaps creating more detailed pages
Try making colour studies, or look closely at texture or pattern
What is it like to be inside nature rather than observing from afar?

Autumn Nature Journaling - Change, Gathering & Letting Go

(September – November)

Shaggy inkcap mushrooms in my nature journal

Autumn teaches us how to gather, ripen, and release…

Probably my favourite season of the year – a time of harvests and ripe fruits. This feels like a time of plenty, and there’s plenty of opportunity to include drawings of fruits, nuts and seedheads in your autumn nature journal pages.

Birds and animals are often busy taking advantage of this time of abundance too, so may be more easy to spot in fields and gardens.

As the days now shorten and the weather grows colder and damper, fungi now thrive – and offer ample invitations to explore their fascinations in our nature journals.

It’s a time of endings, as plants see the culmination of the year’s growth, and our summer birds leave for warmer shores.

Yet Autumn has always felt like a time of new beginnings, too – as well as that ‘new term’ feeling left over from schooldays, there’s always the arrival of new and interesting migratory birds to look out for…

And as the seasons turn, and the mornings turn to frost again, it seems as if the old is released and the world is made fresh and new again with the cleansing cold. A clear slate to give opportunity to pause and take stock – a time of quiet and rest, to recharge over winter, to be more ready for the new growth time of Spring.

Ideas for your Autumn Nature Journal

These are not a checklist - just dip in as and how you fancy…

Use rich colours and mixed media to record the colours of autumn
Write your thoughts about this season of ripenings and endings
Record what you’re gathering - and anything you’re releasing

You Don’t Need to Journal Every Day

Using collected Leaves in my nature journal, September 2025

Collected leaves make an interesting and colourful page in my nature journal - have a guess at identifying them if you can - it doesn't matter if you're not sure!

A year of nature journaling does not mean 365 days of nature journaling. You do not need to nature journal every day – we don’t need to add extra tasks onto ourselves. Missed days and even weeks are not important here – there is no falling behind, only returning…

What is important, is building the relationship with nature, and with yourself – giving ourselves permission to take the time to pause from our world of busyness and stress, and plug into the natural world instead.

It’s the noticing that’s essential – and you can even forge a valuable connection with nature by just noticing with your eyes, ears, and heart – nothing needs to be set down on paper at all if you don’t want to.

But taking a few moments to make that memory tangible is strong, valuable, and precious – like a bank of feel-good moments of connection with nature that can be called on, now, at any point in the future.

It’s important to nature journal in the way and to the rhythm that’s right for you. Returning our thoughts and our hearts towards nature is part of the practice of nature journaling – knowing that nature is always there to welcome us back in, like a loving parent.

A single page can hold a whole season, so there’s no need to rush or nature journal at a pace that doesn’t work for your unique life.

What You’ll Notice After a Year

After a year of nature journaling, you can feel proud of your personal record of seasons and feelings.

I love to flick through my whole nature journal. Each drawing, seen individually, may feel simple or unfinished, but together, the nature journal feels like a masterpiece – a precious personal record that records my own unique relationship with the natural world.

After nature journaling through the seasons you will likely feel a deeper familiarity with the birds and plants in your personal landscape of nature – whether that’s your garden, a local park, hedgerows and verges, or fields, rivers, and woodlands.

You will likely feel a greater sense of belonging in the landscape – and a greater calm and attentiveness to your surroundings and to your own life.

Nature journaling about a cool spotty feather!

How My Nature Journals Feed My Artwork

My artwork starts around seeds of personal memory and experience – often captured in my nature journal as a cherished memory. A single moment, glimpsed even from the car while travelling, can become a page in my nature journal, a sketch, a line of research into plants, animals, birds, and folklore - and eventually a finished artwork.

Not every page in my nature journal will become a finished artwork. And it doesn’t need to – the value is in the noticing, not the outcome. That’s part of the magic!

The nature journal must be a place where you feel free to be imperfect, to share what’s personal, heartfelt, unfinished, experimental – it’s a living document which may take you in a new direction at any time – and that’s part of the appeal!

A year of nature journaling isn’t about filling pages - it’s about letting the seasons leave their mark on you.

Nature journaling teaches you to spot the interesting things, even if they're tiny!

A Gentle Invitation

If you’ve read this far, I’m guessing you’re at least a little bit interested in nature journaling your own personal experiences of nature. You’re in the right place as I have lots of information to help you get started and explore nature journaling through the year in your own way…

Nature journaling is simply a way of walking alongside the seasons - one quiet moment at a time...

Explore my own seasonal nature journal pages as you peek inside my nature journals

Learn how to start your own nature journal

Find weekly prompts to inspire your own year of nature journaling here...

You might enjoy a look at the highlights of my first 12 months of nature journaling (June 2024 to June 2025) plus my thoughts about it all...

Explore my hand-drawn nature art inspired by these moments – you might also like my earlier nature artworks, too…

Browse through everything nature journaling in my nature journal hub page here...

Shall we stay in touch..?

Each month, I share stories from my own nature journal, new art from my studio, and simple seasonal inspiration to help you feel more connected with the turning year...

A Year of Nature Journaling
Following the Seasons...
One Quiet Moment at a Time

Why a Year of Nature Journaling Feels Different