With many of us spending more time to really watch nature we have the possibility of developing our observation skills, to notice nature, and truly watch well. You can find the full set of data here.

From a scientific perspective, watching well is vital for data collection. However, we all suffer from “inattentional blindness”, a failure to notice something obvious because we are too preoccupied with another task or object. It’s not a conscious process - our senses are bombarded with so much information that our minds cannot process it all. To cope with this sensory overload we develop filters which help the brain deal with all the stimuli and information that bombards it. Our changing culture, values, expectations, and beliefs shape our filters and influence how and what we notice, and how we react. Filters help focus our attention on a single task or part of the environment and ignore everything else.

If we apply this to noticing nature and wildlife, we need to be able to just be and absorb what we see. Try focusing on just one area and see what happens there. Is there a part of the garden or space that you haven’t explored before? Look there. What about lying flat on the grass and seeing what you can spot at ground level?

Give your senses a chance to work one at a time. What can you hear? Can you really tune into that? What about what you can smell? What does each of the flowers in your nature space smell like?