I spend my days in natural areas and for many years I have kept lists of birds that I see while working on research projects, removing invasive species or simply birding.  Over the years bird lists were jotted down in a variety of field notebooks; some very cheap some very expensive, some large and some small.  I always came back to something pocket-sized, something that I would always have with me - in a back pocket, in a shirt pocket, on the truck dash, in my binocular case and so on.

Then in 2014 I discovered eBird!  I had heard of eBird, but I had never input any lists, I had never used eBird to "scout" vacation locations, I had never used eBird to its full potential.  However, recognizing its potential, I like many birders downloaded the eBird app to my phone and prepared to go afield without a birding notebook.  Well, eBird is awesome, the app is great, but notebookless didn't feel right to me.  I was slow using the app on my smart phone, I was easily and constantly distracted by text messages and the black hole of Twitter and ultimately I really missed tally marks and field sketches. I missed my birding notebook.

I went straight to Google and searched for 'birding pocket notebook' the results varied from a handful of etsy homemade notebooks that wouldn't last an hour in my pocket to expensive spiral-bound Rite in the Rain notebooks that would be handy on a jungle expedition, but too expensive for everyday use.  I wanted something pocket-sized, durable and reasonably priced; add to that a variety of bird themed colors and original bird illustrations and Life List Notebooks was born.

Our goal is to produce a variety of pocket birding notebooks that are practical and convenient for your birding adventures from the backyard to an Amazon expedition. We welcome your suggestions for improving our birding notebooks, and we enjoy seeing photos of your notebooks afield.  Please send correspondence to lifelistnotebooks@gmail.com