How to Observe Living Organisms in Their Natural Environment

Spy on them. Become a Peeping Tom. Observe your subject, whether an individual or a group, from a distance through binoculars. Watch from behind glass as a bird builds a nest in a bush outside your window, lays and incubates her eggs and raises her babies. Climb a tree and watch (and record) what goes on below you on the ground or higher up in the canopy. Be careful that the animals remain unaware of your presence, as its behavior will change if you intrude.

Get in with them. Observe aquatic creatures by floating over them while snorkeling. Some fish may take fright and swim away, and some may come to investigate this new presence in their world (and maybe even have a nibble), but others will continue about their business while you watch. If you're a SCUBA or free diver, you can go even deeper into the habitat, but for more limited periods of time.

Hide from them. Blend in. Disguise yourself with camouflage clothing appropriate to the setting -- forest, desert, snow. Sit very still, and make a noise like a tree stump (which is to say, none at all). If the wildlife isn't fooled by this, take it a step further -- build a "hide" by cutting or just piling up vegetation (or snow). Make this pile look as natural as possible, as if it just happened to be there. Conceal yourself inside, make an unobtrusive opening to look or photograph through and wait patiently. You can do this for hours, but you'll be happier if you have food and water. Anywhere but the polar regions, you will almost certainly be able to study the behavior of mosquitoes and flies while you wait for other animals to pass by, so you may want to put on insect repellent.

Habituate them. Take the time to get let animals get used to your presence. Jane Goodall walked the Gombe Stream Reserve for months, following chimp calls and sounds of movement, before they allowed her to get close enough to see them. If you show up regularly at the same spot at the same time, wear the same clothes and behave, sound and smell the same way, soon you'll be treated like part of the furniture. Observe large or dangerous animals from a motor vehicle -- the sounds of the engine and the smell of the gasoline fumes disguise the human presence. Under these conditions, it's especially easy to take notes and record activities or sounds.

Recreate their habitat. Very small subjects can be studies close-up by recreating their natural environment. Tadpoles don't care if you watch them from above the water or collect them into a jar, as long as you include the elements of their habitat (water, mud, plants and so on). Protozoa (one-celled animals found in ponds) will go right on doing their thing in an aquarium while you look at them with your naked eyes, with a magnifying glass or in a drop of water under a microscope.