Notebooks for notekeeping

A few versions of my homemade camera trapping log, and the Moleskine notebook I use for general field notes.

New Year is time to make record books for camera trapping.

I print 4 pages of the data form in landscape format on the front and back of one piece of 8.5 x 11" paper, and fold it in half.

When I have 24 sheets ready, I stitch together 4 signatures of 6 sheets each.

Each notebook has 96 pages, each page good for one camera trap set.

Last year I filled one notebook by the end of October.

I carried on with a spare notebook I had made for practice, but the stitching was loose and I realized my craft is still in the primitive stage.

I highlight the set number when the set is closed
and  all the data fields are filled in. 

This year I made minor revisions to the data form, and decided to glue the signatures after stitching.

I'm pretty happy with the results, which look and feel like they will hold together.

I also added a title page and a ribbon to mark my page.

I've learned about this ancient art from Bibliophile's Bookbinding and Hobby Blog.

It's written by a mysterious Icelandic lady who inherited a plastics plant and binds books for recreation.

She covers her books with tanned fish skin among other things, and she has all the book binding links you need to get started.

One of my frustrations is hand-trimming the pages for the finished notebook.

An exacto knife isn't equal to the task.

The pages can end up uneven and ragged.

So I'm grinding a blade for a guillotine cutter which my neighbor Richard advises me can be bolted to the cast iron front of my 15" wood planer.

"Clamp the notebooks in a wooden press on the out feed rollers with the edge under the blade".

He says the pages will be impeccably trimmed when I crank the planer's bed upward.

I'll keep you posted on that one.

I finalized my notebook

Since my last post on record keeping, I decided I needed a customized logbook for my 2009 field records.

This layout, done on my computer, works for me well. It cues me to record the data on the spot. When I get home and want to update my spreadsheets, all the information is there.

If I have just a few new sets, I don't have to hook up my GPS to the computer. I just enter the GPS waypoints from the notebook on a topographic quad using MacGPS Pro, and I see where I was. 

If I want to upload tracks or a large number of waypoints, then I cable the data from the GPS to the Mac.

I settled on a  format that allows me to record up to 4 sessions at a camera trap set. If it's a really hot set, I can continue sessions to a new page. 

I also included several calculations. They give me access in the field to success rates and pictures/day at different sets -- a chat topic that may come up during a break or lunch. 

 For reference I have a calendar and a list of my cams on the inside of the back page. 

My camera traps are a mixed bag that use anything from 2 D cells to 6 NiMH AAs for external power.  I use the camera list to figure out the number and type of batteries to take when I go to check cams. 

Oh yes, after I printed the pages, I trimmed them with an xacto knife, and stitched 18 double-sided pages together in a single signature. The cover is a recycled file folder. 

Very satisfying for an old codger who has plenty of time and not much money. 

The Little Brown Book

As far as I know, most camera trappers don't keep notes.

You don't need to keep notes if you camera trap on a small scale or occasionally, if you know your trapping area intimately, or if you have a photographic memory.

None of these apply to me.

I keep notes in a little brown moleskin book, because I'm a compulsive notetaker. It saves me time trying to remember details.

I try to keep the notes basic.

CAMERA SET: This is a GPS location number.

CAMERA: This is the camera's ID (I use an alphabetic letter, A - Z for each cam).

DATE SET: The day I set the camera.

LOCATION: This includes details (e.g., deer trail, log crossing stream, boulder) and general information (Gillis Canyon, 3 miles E of windmill on county road 631, San Luis Obispo County, CA).

GPS: Latitude and longitude calculated by the GPS, usually after it has taken an average from 100 - 200 readings).

ALTITUDE: As estimated by the GPS.

LURE: If I use a scent lure, like castoreum, here's where I record it.

DATE CHECKED: The date I check the cam, change the memory stick and replace batteries. Several dates may be recorded consecutively, if I leave the camera at the set.

DATE CLOSED: The date I pull the camera or move it to a new location.

If there are other details I want to remember, I jot them down.




When I check the camera and find pictures, I replace the memory stick and upload the photos on my computer.

Then I look at each photo on full screen, and record the photo number, animal IDs, and date and time of every picture on a large tablet. Each sheet is identified with the number of the camera trap set and the cam ID.



After I summarize the information in an Excel spreadsheet I file the sheet in a folder .

I only keep the best or most interesting photos. The rest go to the computer's trash can and are erased.