The Naturalist's Toolbox

Stephen King, whose work I admire, likes to talk about his "toolbox" when discussing the craft of writing. Other writers (and others in almost any field of work or serious hobby) use this concept, of course, but King is the one who really introduced me to it in its more abstract sense. I'll cover the naturalist's toolbox in both ephemeral and concrete terms below.

What do you need to be a good naturalist? Well, if you ask me it's the ephemeral stuff that's important. Stripped to its most basic essentials, the naturalist's toolbox contains:

• Eyes
• Keen observational skills
• Patience
• Interest in nature
• Clothing (you will, after all, be outside)

To the last bullet on the list, I will add that there is probably such a thing as "nude naturalism," but I'm talking about how to be a naturalist and retain a sane outward appearance. Really, though, anyone can be a naturalist with just those five things. The gear and gadgetry I will lay out below will certainly make outdoor experiences more enjoyable and rewarding, but since none of these things are hard and fast requirements nature hobbies can be as frugal or as expensive as your budget allows.

There is of course a lot of variation in useful items depending upon your particular area(s) of interest. Following which things are best for which interests isn't rocket science, though, so I'll try not to lead you by the nose.


Hiking Essentials

Just about every outdoor adventure will involve some amount of walking, so I'll start there. The equipment list for this is pretty basic. For any significant hike, you will need:

• Hiking boots - preferably waterproofed or at least water resistant
• Comfortable socks
• Layers of clothing (obviously, your hiking wardrobe will vary seasonally)
• A poncho
• A map and compass for any hike where becoming lost is even a remote possibility
• water - I recommend those steel, screw-top bottles (preferably with carabiners)
• Trail food
• First-aid kit
• A backpack or similar carryall device

Useful, but not absolute must-have, items include:

• Bug spray
• sunscreen (this IS a must have in some environments)
• A pocket knife or leatherman tool
• A flashlight (necessary, of course, if your hike will be at night)
• Extra carabiners (you will be surprised how many ways these can help you out)

Everything else you might want is really up to the hiker's discretion. Some folks love to have cell phones or GPS equipment; others prefer a much more off-the-grid approach.


Observational Aides

There are really only two items (three if you're a stargazer) that fall into this category, but they are important enough that I thought they deserved their own bolded and underlined subheading. I'm going to skip that third option, but I do have a few brief words to share on binoculars and cameras.

Binoculars are great to have when you want them. If you're a birder, they are all but necessary. However, in my experience they have often been a clunky and heavy extra burden. The secret with this tool is to know when to bring it along, and when to write off the more distant sightings as something for another trip. Binocs are available at widely ranging prices, but I wouldn't recommend the super-cheap or the super-expensive. If you don't want to spend at least $50, then the naked eye approach is probably adequate.

Cameras are also available across a broad spectrum of cost and quality. In this case, the super-cheap just might be OK, depending on what you want to photograph. If mushrooms or plants are your passion, then you can get away with a fairly low-quality model that won't break the bank. I'll illustrate below:

This was taken with the low-quality camera I've been stuck with for the last few weeks. It might not be exemplary, but it gets the point across.

However, if insects, spiders, or other tiny creatures are your cup of tea, a more advanced model with a robust zoom lens is going to be necessary. Consider the botched attempt below, taken with a reasonably good digital camera:

Yuck, right? This was the best of about a half-dozen attempts made before a resigned sigh.

This was a slightly more successful effort with the same equipment. Still, if I were to take up entomology instead of mycology as a primary focus, I'd clearly need something better.

The other problem is that animals, well, they move. If your subject of choice is quick and wily, you'll need a camera with great shutter speed. If fishes or other underwater life thrill you, then you'll need an underwater camera and a host of other materials which fall outside my range of experience. The takeaway from all this is to remember what your goal is when you're camera shopping - this way you can avoid overkill on the one hand and inflated expectations a point-and-shoot model on the other.


Literature

There are a wealth of resources available for the aspiring naturalist. The internet is a pretty good place to start, although if you're reading my blog I suppose you've figured that much out already. Believe it or not, Wikipedia is a pretty good resource if you have an idea of the common name of what you're looking for. Quite a number of universities keep detailed sites - often with information not yet published elsewhere. National and State Parks, wildlife and nature preserves, and other similar places often feature useful lists of native species on their websites. Googling something like "funny-looking green beetle" can actually yield surprisingly helpful results on occasion, as well. However, the internet is not quite perfect for the confused and frustrated outdoorsman.

Sometimes you might want to identify something for which you have no search terms to even try - you just need to start with pictures. In that case, you need guidebooks. The below snapshots will give you an idea what I'm talking about.

You'll notice I have four mushroom guides, but only one for any other single topic. This is simply because of the added complexity of mushroom identification. Sometimes it is important to verify your result with a second guide that emphasizes slightly different features.

 As you can see, I'm partial to Audubon guides. Their color plates are simply unmatched. Sibley is another well-respected and quite good publisher. My bird guide (see below) is from Stokes. I am personally not a fan of Petersenor Simon and Schuster guides, but these options work for some. As a child, I couldn't get enough of the Golden Guides, and I highly recommend these for anyone ages 8-10 through high school age.

The Weather Field Guide hasn't been as useful as I'd hoped, but it is interesting. At the far right you can see I've kept my Boy Scout Handbook, just in case. I still suck at tying knots without a reference, so I confess to using it once or twice in adulthood.

The other type of guide worth noting is the hike guide. You can find these for just about any region, and for this area I highly recommend the 60 Hikes Within 60 Miles guidebook. This series has entries for places as widespread as San Francisco, Atlanta, Cincinnati, Phoenix, and Portland. Avid hikers living close to DC should consider owning just about any hike guide with Shenandoah National Park in the title, as well.

Finally, I should discuss magazines. From publications like Science and Nature to more specifics (I get a quarterly pub simply called Mushroom) these can be an excellent way to learn things that are simply too detailed to be covered in the guides. You are also getting a more varied perspective, since the guidebooks tend to have a single author, or at most a small team of authors. I'm somewhat surprised at the volume of periodicals that remain out there in the internet age, but if you have thought of it there is probably a magazine devoted to it.

I'm sure I haven't blown too many people away with information here, but I hope there's a takeaway or two here. What I'm really driving at is that nature-lovers can start a full-fledged hobby with very little outlay of money - and yet, for those who want to be well equipped the resources to aid you are virtually limitless.