Nature Journaling in Summer

Ideas for nature journaling in Summer - excerpts from my own nature journal for July and August in Yorkshire, UK...

Summer can be joyous to get outdoors and explore nature, but it can also sometimes be too hot to want to be out in the sun, and some nature or wildlife can be harder to spot at this time, as animals and birds also try to escape the heat!

I've enjoyed nature journaling through July and August - I've gone at a steady pace and missed a few days here and there to suit my natural rhythms of my lifestyle...

I nature journal for my own enjoyment and relaxation - I practice 'imperfect nature journaling' - I try not to worry about making perfect pictures, gathering all the facts, or journaling every day. I nature journal for myself, so I do it in the way that makes me feel good - and I hope I can inspire you to do the same.

I find that feeling more connected to nature, through observing nature carefully and mindfully, through nature journaling, helps me to feel more relaxed and to cope better with the stresses of everyday life.

If you'd like to see my nature journal for July and August, you can flick through the pages with me below...

July Nature Journal Flick Through

Simply click 'PLAY' above/below to start watching...

August Nature Journal Flick Through

You can see more about my nature journal pages below, too...

Please note that I've organised this page by theme rather than chronologically, although for the most part pages have been added chronologically within each theme (where it makes sense to do so).

Wings of Summer

The start of July in particular was very hot - and the month has been exceptionally dry. I worry about how the birds and animals cope with such hot weather...

They obviously miss the rain as I saw one of 'our' wood pigeons lifting his wings to enjoy a good wash in an absolute downpour of rain!

Wood pigeon washing

Seeing how much the wood pigeon enjoyed the rain, I decided to set up a little basin of water on the patio table just outside the kitchen window. I surrounded it with plants so that the birds felt confident using it, and put a rock in the middle so that they had somewhere to perch, and it didn't take long for them to spot it and enjoy it. 

At first, the birds just drank from the basin of water, then they started using it to bathe. The best was this little dunnock, who enjoyed bathing in the water, then sat on the back of the patio chair and shook himself all over to get dry! What a lovely thing to see!

Bathing dunnock

In the hot weather, there's been noticeably fewer birds when we've been going out and about in the fields near home. Partly, I think the birds are keeping cool in the shade, but I also learnt they moult during the summer months, and as they're more vulnerable while moulting, like to keep a low profile at this time.

Also, as the nesting period is now over for most birds, there's also less feeding activity, so less going on during the summer, too.

Tree creeper

I was very pleased, though, that Merlin bird app has picked up a tree creeper, which is a bird we've rarely seen around the village, and also a redwing (at the end of July) - I'm wondering if this is an early migrant..?

Redwing

Maybe it is becoming more autumnal, as we heard the tawny owls calling at the end of July, having not heard them for weeks. I learned that during the autumn and winter as they're building their territories is the peak time for the owl calls.

The 'twit-twoo' that we hear, is actually 2 birds, the female calling 'twit' and the male answering 'twoo'.

Tawny owl

I also found a tawny owl feather, which was pretty cool!

Tawny owl feather

It may feel autumnal but there's still signs of new life... little fledglings from a second brood! I heard a loud cheeping coming from a hedge as I was walking past and spotted two little fledglings perched on a branch, identified as Lesser Whitethroats by the Merlin app (we'd seen and heard Lesser Whitethroats very close earlier in the year). Very sweet and a real treat to see!

Lesser whitethroat fledglings

And in my own garden, two baby woodpigeons - I first spotted them on the hottest day (33 degrees C) and they spent the first few days just sat quietly in the shade - a week later, they're still about but I think becoming more independent.

Baby woodpigeons

We've also seen young grey partridges in the fields, and one poor little one running on the track we were walking along - it actually fell over (it did right itself) and we felt so sorry for it. It's nice to know that this native British bird is still surviving in the fields close to home (we normally see the Red-Legged Partridge) so it was great to know that this Red List bird is close by still!

Grey partridges

We've also been lucky enough, almost every day as we walk through the field behind our house, to see and hear a little flock of linnets (sometimes with corn buntings, greenfinches, or goldfinches). These used to be kept as caged birds for their song so it's lovely to hear them singing in the wild. The field is full of weeds at the moment (a weed called 'fat hen') and the birds seem to love them. When I was researching the linnets, I saw that the 'fat hen' weed is an important food source for linnets, so that's why we have so many near us this year!

Flock of linnets

We also heard Canada Geese on a recent local walk - this was cool as the Canada Goose became my 100th bird in my list on the Merlin Bird App, and I like these birds a lot - I think these are likely resident geese and not migratory geese but I'll be looking and listening out for geese migrating overhead soon, we always see and hear lots each Spring and Autumn.

Canada Goose

It's not just the birds that we've noticed. Summer is, of course, the perfect time to look for butterflies, moths and other flying insects...

Peacock butterfly

Comma butterfly (seen in June)

Ringlet butterfly (seen in June)

Lots of butterflies this year (2025) enjoying the summer flowers!

Red Admiral butterfly

This Red Admiral butterfly posed nicely for me to take a photo. I learned that these butterflies were originally called the Red Admirable butterfly!

Hummingbird hawk moth

The first time I saw a hummingbird hawk moth was in 2010 in Malta - and I was convinced I'd seen an actual hummingbird. I later discovered that it was actually a moth - this incredible hummingbird hawk moth which hovers with fluttering wings in daytime, and sucks nectar from flowers with its long tongue.

Not long after, during a hot summer, I saw one on the Red Valerian flowers in my own front garden - and for the year after that, one visited too, but after some cooler summers, they'd seemed to disappear - until this year...

We spotted one this year, not in our front garden this time, and not even at some flowers, but investigating air vents in an old building in our village - perhaps to lay its eggs? Maybe if it's warm again next year, they might come and visit us - I still have my Red Valerians waiting!

Brown moth (Large Yellow Underwing)

I also found a big brown moth while sorting out our garage - which I think is a Large Yellow Underwing moth - really pretty and furry, looking like suede or velvet.

Blue Damselfly

On a day trip to Sledmere Walled Garden in the Yorkshire Wolds, we spotted this lovely blue damselfly, which posed beautifully for us to get a really clear photo. A lovely, bright shimmering blue and gossamer-fine wings!

I'm not entirely sure, but I think it's the Common Blue Damselfly, Enallagma cyathigerum.

We did also see a Broad-bodied Chaser dragonfly alight momentarily on some plants, but it didn't stick around long enough to be photographed, so only the damselfly made it into my nature journal!

Caterpillar to chrysalis nature journal page

As the summer season moves on, nature moves on as well. Those early butterflies and moths have laid eggs. The eggs have become caterpillars and the caterpillars have munched their way through leaves aplenty and are moving onto the chrysalis (or cocoon) stage. We were lucky enough to see this fat grey caterpillar (still unidentified, but not through lack of trying) - he was sat nicely on the bin handle, then curled himself, then started hanging by one end only (tail I think).

The following day, a hard coating had started to form, first on one side, then later that day it covered both sides of the caterpillar.  The day after that, it started turning to a papery-brown colour and texture, looking just like a hanging leaf.

A lovely story and wonderful to see, but the caterpillar chose to metamorphose under our wheelie bin handle - and with bin collection just a few days away, we will need to carefully move the chrysalis to somewhere safer so that he's not crushed in the bin collection!

We researched online and it seems it's best to allow the chrysalis a few days to fully harden and then carefully remove with dental floss and re-glue (again, carefully) from the very tip somewhere else suitable...

So with much trepidation, we did manage to move the chrysalis to a little shelter we made for him as close as possible to his original location. 

And two weeks later on a very hot day... he hatched!

Chrysalis to butterfly

In the morning, I could see the wing colour and pattern through the chrysalis, so I knew it was a Red Admiral butterfly.

We missed it emerging, by the time we saw it an hour and a half later, it had fallen and was laying flat on its back covered in what appeared to be blood (but after some research, we discovered to be a fluid called meconium which is essentially a waste fluid).

We thought it had died at first, but on offering it a card to cling to, we were able to right it and it took up a vertical position on our trellis while it practiced with its wings. It took a few hours to be able to fly. We fed it some sugar water and blueberries to help it. We saw it again the same evening and the following day, but hope it's found some nice flowers elsewhere to enjoy now as we haven't seen it since.

I thought that seeing a newly emerged butterfly would feel magical - and in some ways, it did -  but it also showed just how messy and delicate nature and life can be!

A very hairy caterpillar (from a Vapourer Moth)

And while one species is becoming a butterfly, another is still a caterpillar... We saw this very unusual, very hairy caterpillar on the pavement opposite our house. It looks so weird, like a tiny alien or hairy, colourful scorpion - and it turns out it's the caterpillar of a Vapourer Moth (also known as a Rusty Tussock Moth, Orgyia antiqua).

The Vapourer Moth is so called because the female is flightless and emits pheromones to attract the male of the species to come to her. It's such an interesting species and the caterpillar is one I've never seen before (I'd definitely remember that!).

Plants of Summer

Summer is all about flowers! I didn't include as many garden flowers as I thought I would in my summer nature journaling, but I did enjoy these amazing hollyhocks in the village community garden...

Hollyhocks

Also these lovely teasels coming into flower with bands of pale purple petals forming around the prickly heads. I'm not sure I've seen teasels in flower like this before, but once I spotted them in the village community garden, I've been seeing them all over, including on road verges. Must be a good year for them!

Teasels in flower

And I've really enjoyed seeing these brilliant flashes of magenta as I've walked in the fields - Rosebay Willowherb.

Rosebay willowherb

It's not all about the flowers, though, berries are starting to creep into the nature mix, even though we normally associate berries with autumn rather than summer (apart from strawberries, raspberries and similar, I guess).

Now, whether it's just because it's been so hot this year, or if this is about normal, but by the end of July and beginning of August, I'd spotted hypericum berries, lords and ladies, rowan berries, red hawthorn berries, and brambles as well as some hazelnuts and horse chestnuts forming on the trees.

Hypericum

Hawthorn berries

I drew these hawthorn berries on 2nd August. I was surprised to see them so red and bright so early. I was wondering if it really is earlier this year or it's just a tale I'm telling myself as I know it's been so hot so I checked my nature journal for last August to see if I could see when the hawthorn berries were red last year (2024) - and it was the 21st August that I'd drawn them last year and from the description it sounds like they were at a similar stage - so I conclude that they really are earlier this year!

Oak with acorns in August

Lots of acorns on the ground after Storm Floris - I found this little oak stalk and brought it home to draw.

Also loads of ripe blackberries (on the bramble bushes)- again, I think these are earlier. I checked back to last year and I didn't include them in last year's nature journal (2024) until September (although I noted that I'd been seeing them for a couple of weeks already by then).

Incidentally, if you're interested in whether fruits are ripe earlier or later than normal, or birds arrive or depart earlier or later, or when flowers appear, (called 'phenology')  the Woodland Trust Nature's Calendar (UK) is a really interesting and useful project using citizen science to monitor these seasonal changes. (See their recordings just here.)

Ripe brambles

And lots of rosehips and black sloes - the sloes in particular seem to be large and plentiful in comparison to what I see most years!

Hips and sloes

It does feel like autumn has come early with a lovely bright orange squash in our shopping! This is a Red Onion Squash, also known as a Red Kuri Squash, Japanese Squash, Orange Hokkaido Squash, Baby Red Hubbard Squash, Uchiki Kuri Squash, or a Potimarron. It was very tasty - with bright orange flesh inside too, and lots of it!

Red onion squash

I was expecting to get a lot of flowers in July and August, but (although there were certainly some flowers about) it was the berries that caught my eye - perhaps because they felt too early!

Are they too early? I don't know. Perhaps science will be able to tell us in time. I did find this article interesting, though, talking about how berries in the UK are ripening early this year but it's not 'autumn come early' but a sign of stress from an intensely hot and dry spring and summer this year.

Unfortunately, it also has implications for the birds, insects and other wildlife that depend on those berries at a certain time of the year when the berries might have already been and gone by that time. I do notice, though, that the berries are very plentiful this year (more than I've ever seen) so this may not be so much of a problem if there are still berries about...

I know the old saying is that when the hedges provide a glut of berries, it means that the coming winter is going to be harsh, so we will have to see if that bears out this year.

I'm also wondering what I'm going to nature journal in autumn, since I've already journaled about all the usual autumn berries - again, let's see!

Another Sign of Heat Stress & Drought?

Badgers (in peril)

Sadly, this post isn't as nice as the drawing would suggest, but I didn't want to draw what I actually saw which were 4 dead badgers (all separate but within a radius of 5-10 miles).

Normally, we rarely see dead badgers so to see 4 all on the same day seemed very unfortunate and it made me wonder what was going on.

On researching, I discovered that badgers are very badly affected by prolonged drought (which we are definitely experiencing here in Yorkshire) and at such times they can starve or be involved in traffic accidents, which it looks like maybe what has happened here. So very sad and a real wake up call on our climate crisis.

I nature journal for relaxation and well-being, so in many respects I wasn't keen to include dead badgers in my nature journal as it's not the most pleasant of topics - but it happened!

And by journaling about it, it's a good way to process my feelings around this and also as a reminder that nature has its unpleasant side (it's not all pretty flowers and sweet birds) just like all of life, including our own lives. It's also a useful reminder that climate change has consequences that are starting to affect us and the nature we love, here and now.

I'm hoping now that summer has come to an end, we will have some rain (hopefully, not too many downpours, although we probably need it). I'm interested to see how nature will navigate autumn this year since so many berries are already ripe and some leaves have also fallen already. I'll be hopefully finding something to nature journal about for autumn, too! Come back soon and see what's in my nature journal next season...

Where to Go Next

Learn more about what is nature journaling here...

Get your free guide to getting started with nature journaling here...

Learn how to enjoy being more mindful in nature here...

Explore all topics and articles about nature journaling here, including monthly peeks inside my real nature journals!

I also have a short PDF course called 'Imperfect Nature Journaling' which has 20 exercises to help you explore nature journaling in different ways to help you find the right way for you, personally, to enjoy nature journaling as a rewarding hobby for fun and relaxation...

Online Nature Journaling Course

If you'd like to explore nature journaling more, please consider joining me for my 'Imperfect Nature Journaling' online course - I've called it this to remind us to nature journal for the process of connecting with nature to feel good and not to put pressure on ourselves to create pretty pages which can quickly ruin the fun and the benefits...

It's a series of 20 lessons which are great exercises that you can do in your own nature journal to help you try out different ideas and techniques.

This will help you get the most out of your nature journaling sessions and understand what style of nature journaling is the best for you personally.

If this sounds like something you might like, you can find out more about the course here...