I. General observations
Focus on details, details, details! Remember, we want to read
about what the animals were doing not about your attempts to find them
or your interactions with them. Describe the behavior of the animals
you observe in detail. Note changes in posture or sequences of
actions. Describe what the animal does and how it does it -- describe
its posture, shape, and gait.
Be patient. Observe for at least 20-40 minutes at a time. If you
wait long enough, you'll see a full range of behavior from feeding to
aggression and reproduction.
Listen. That is, try to use senses other than vision during observations.
Look for patterns in bird or insect calls.
Keep track of time and the environmental conditions.
Note the influence of personal experience and biases in your observations.
Note information you are lacking (e.g. the names of body parts,
the species you are observing, etc.) to look up later. Don't get
hung up on things you don't know during the observation.
