Using the Field Journal
Plan outings on a map, pin places, log species from the field, and keep visit notes so each Field Chronicle trip stays a living field record.
Field Chronicle isn’t trying to be “another photo gallery”—it’s trying to be the operating system for your time in the field.
The Field Journal is the spine of Field Chronicle: outings, locations on a map, and visit notes. Sightings, photographs, and gear hang off those trips. The primary unit is the outing, not the photo. If you only learn one section well, learn this one.
The outing map holds your places. The sidebar lists locations and sightings beside it.
Outings are days in the field
An outing is a dated visit—often one morning, sometimes a multi-stop day. Give it a name you will recognize. Party members can be attached when you went out with friends; the outing remains yours to edit.
Pin places you actually use
Locations are pins with types you define (hide, trail, wetland, backyard). Name them the way you speak: “east scrape,” not a GPS dump. Reuse the same pin on later outings so the place accumulates history. Visit notes capture conditions and intent—“low tide, east wind, looking for waders.”
Plan when it helps
Plan an outing is optional. Chase a species, ask for a surprise, or use Find something new for nearby taxa that are not yet on your life list. Each suggestion carries distance, seasonality, confidence, time of day, weather, and a short why. Redo a result to ask for closer, more recent, or better-season matches. Let's Go There confirms date, party, checklist notes, and a calendar entry. Many users only log after they return. Both patterns are valid; the map still holds the record.
Log on the map while you are out
On a phone, the outing map is the field notebook. The + control opens a species search (your previous sightings first, then the catalog); saving uses the current time and your GPS. Tap the map to pin a location. While you are within about 5 km of the outing, live map recommendations can quietly surface nearby species from your records, friends, and public posts. They stay off when you are planning from home. Turn them on or off in Settings → Field Journal.
Why the journal is the operating system
Without outings and places, sightings and photos are a pile—the same problem as a camera roll and a spreadsheet that never meet. With them, the day reads in field order: outing → places → species → photos → notes → gear used. You can ask “what happened at this pin?” or “what did I do on that date?” That context is what a gallery cannot share.
Continue with Sightings, Photos, or an audience guide for photographers, birders, or nature lovers.