Nature Journal is an innovative presentation of the best columns and photographs from L. J. Davenport's popular column in Alabama Heritage magazine. Readers of the magazine have come to relish his artful and often witty descriptions of common species encountered in the Alabama outdoors. But Nature Journal is designed to be much more than a mere collection of entertaining essays; it is also an educational tool--a means of instructing and encouraging readers in the art of keeping a nature journal for themselves.

Each of the 25 chapters is a self-contained lesson in...