The Naturalist's Companion: A Field Guide to Observing and Understanding Wildlife

by Dave Hall

Practical guidance on how to achieve a deeper level of nature observation

From the co-founder of Primitive Pursuits, renowned nature awareness program

Provides concrete tools for improving the depth and quality of outdoor experiences

The Naturalist’s Companion fills an important void in outdoor education by teaching readers how to become more learned and patient observers and, ultimately, more proficient naturalists.

Through exhaustive time in the field, author Dave Hall has developed a comprehensive understanding of nature awareness and refined his skills to enhance any time spent outdoors and to foster closer, more respectful encounters with wildlife. Through personal anecdotes and detailed explanations, Hall teaches the principles and ethics of stealth walking, calling, tracking, interpreting basic animal behavior, and much more. Each chapter concludes with a list of exercises, prompting readers to study and put these skills into use, while introductory sections discuss gear, safety, ethics, and thoughtful engagement.

The Naturalist’s Companion will deepen readers’ connection with the outdoors and help them to establish and maintain consistent, intimate, and informed wildlife observations.

Genres: Nature

208 pages, Paperback

Published August 17, 2022

Reviews

[Maileen Hamto · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dave Hall offers a practical guide to nurturing a connection with animals and birds in wild places in "The Naturalist’s Companion: A Field Guide to Observing and Understanding Wildlife." As the founder of the youth-focused educational nonprofit Primitive Pursuits, Hall draws upon more than thirty years of experience as a survival skills guide to write a book about the principles of “thoughtful engagement.” Observing wildlife must be anchored in the ethics of responsibility, respect, and reverence for life. The skills outlined in the book reflect primordial hunting techniques. Hall shares them to inspire people to foster an immersive and purposeful connection with the natural world.

"The Naturalist’s Companion" is an essential read for anyone who wants to enhance their wildlife observation skills. It is packed with information for novice naturalists and observers in a relatively compact volume. In each chapter, Hall shares personal stories of encounters with wildlife, highlighting his own miscalculations and lessons learned. He offers useful tips, tools, and exercises, emphasizing the importance of understanding and interpreting animal language and behavior.

I found most helpful his description of the process of creating an ethogram with guiding questions to note crucial observations. The book includes dozens of full-color photographs that complement Hall’s straightforward but dynamic writing style, effectively communicating his profound adoration for all living things.

[Wendy Feltham · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading Dave Hall's book, filled with tips for viewing, enjoying, and understanding wildlife. He tells many fun stories about his adventures, based on years of teaching about nature in the wilderness and in outdoor education programs. As one who ethically photographs wildlife often, I appreciated his sensitivity to animals. He even de-scents himself and wears camouflage to creep very, very slowly closer to animals and not frighten them. I was disappointed that he included stories of hunting animals with bow and arrow. It's good he cautioned hunters against using his techniques to kill too many animals, but I wish he'd taken a stand against hunting.

[Bill Bitner · Rating 3 out of 5]

This relatively short book was good to get some ideas of how to better observe nature. My expectations were perhaps a bit high, where I was expecting some magic tricks. The author does describe the overall approaches and concepts but mentions a lot of it is practice, and it's clear he has a lot of practice and experience. He does mention some examples of people (children) new to nature who have success which is good to remove the idea that no one can do this without decades of experience. The book is well structured and has exercises at the end of each chapter.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this - my only gripe is with the error in chapter 9 that I’m surprised nobody caught and should be corrected if there’s another printing. 🦍 It sort of hurt my feelings. Other than that it’s a great little book with lots of great tips for folks who’d like to enjoy a little more outdoors.

[Katra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great for a novice.

[Eleni Giorgos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book, just not the resource I needed right now; would happily refer to later if needed