Birdwatching Notebook news & patch notes

Feather Land & Birdwatching Notebook Bundle is here!

Get two cozy desktop birdwatching games in one bundle and enjoy an extra 10% discount!

🌳 About Feather Land

Feather Land is a cozy idle focus companion where your study and work sessions help a peaceful bird world grow. Hatch eggs, care for cute birds, unlock new biomes, decorate your scenes, and stay focused with productivity tools, calming music, and nature sounds.

🐦 About Birdwatching Notebook

Turn your desktop into your very own birdwatching spot, and await the arrival of new avian friends! Enjoy a cozy idle game — place a tiny postcard on the corner of your screen, keeping you company with pleasant scenes and visiting birds. Oh, and don't forget your camera!

Hello everyone!

To make Birdwatching Notebook more accessible to players around the world, this update introduces new language support, along with several gameplay adjustments and bug fixes.

Here's what's new:

🌍 Localization

Newly supported languages:

• 🇷🇺 Russian

• 🇪🇸 Spanish

• 🇩🇪 German

Thank you to players from around the world for your support and feedback! We will continue improving localization so that even more people can enjoy the peaceful experience of this desktop birdwatching postcard.

🍟 Content Changes

French Fries Stall adjustments

• The French Fries Stall has been changed into a regular building.

• Interacting with it once now unlocks the achievement "Let's Grab Some Fries at the Pier!"

• French fries will remain in the Food Collection.

🐛 Bug Fixes

• Fixed an issue where purchasing food would incorrectly display +2 food buildings.

• Fixed an issue where uninstalling the game after enabling Launch on Startup could cause Steam to reinstall the game automatically.

🎨 UI Improvements

• Improved the appearance and layout of several UI elements.

Thank you for your continued support of Birdwatching Notebook!

Happy birdwatching!

🖼️ A Perfect Blend! Birding And Mushrooming in One!

The Birdwatching Notebook × Mushroom Nook bundle is now available! Get an extra 10% discount when you purchase the bundle 😎

🍄 About Mushroom Nook

Mushrooms of all kinds—adorable, quirky, and even some with unique abilities—are spring up randomly on your computer! Collect and nurture them, then decorate with various objects to create your own cozy mushroom haven, keeping you company while you work, study, or simply unwind.

🐦 About Birdwatching Notebook

Turn your desktop into your very own birdwatching spot, and await the arrival of new avian friends! Enjoy a cozy idle game — place a tiny postcard on the corner of your screen, keeping you company with pleasant scenes and visiting birds. Oh, and don't forget your camera!

On the fifth day of the fifth lunar month comes the Dragon Boat Festival — hang mugwort by the door, fill the house with fragrance; eat zongzi with sugar, and watch the dragon boats set sail with joy...

Birdwatching Notebook brings you:

New Content - Dragon Boat Festival Event!

1. Log in during 6/18 - 6/21 to claim exclusive Dragon Boat Festival rewards — 4 buildings, 1 infrastructure item, 1 multiplayer accessory, and 1 multiplayer emote. These items can still be used after the festival ends!

2. When visiting other players in multiplayer mode, all items dropped by pressing the Space key will be transformed into zongzi!

Note: Multiplayer accessories, emotes, and zongzi require both players to update to the latest version before they can be used. Dragon Boat Festival buildings, like the Spring Festival buildings, can also be obtained next year!

New Feature - Cloud Save is Now Available!

More Updates & Optimizations:

Optimization

1. In the bird encyclopedia, selecting all photos will now only select photos on the current page.

Bug Fixes

1. Fixed an issue where launching the game could affect the Windows taskbar's “always on top” status.

2. Fixed an issue where water rail chicks were displayed incorrectly.

3. Fixed the sliding animation issue of the Desert Warbler.

4. Fixed an issue where clearing search filters on the photo page required a refresh before page numbers displayed correctly.

5. Fixed an issue where the multiplayer bird, Ashy-throated Parrotbill, would not appear without reeds (effective after the visiting player's update).

6. Fixed incorrect layering issues for some placed buildings.

7. Fixed an issue where the rotating wheel for the building “Spiral Spinner” was not displayed in the purchase panel.

8. Fixed an issue where repeatedly clicking “View Harvest” in the tidal flat area would open multiple separate windows.

9. Fixed incorrect building layer issues for structures placed on desert crates.

Happy birdwatching!

🌎 Two games, one natural companion

For everyone who loves observing nature and collecting living creatures, a new desktop companion has arrived!

《Birdwatching Notebook》 and 《BugBox》 have officially launched a special bundle! Get both cozy desktop ecosystem games in one package and enjoy an additional 10% discount!

🐦 Birdwatching Notebook

Turn your desktop into a natural postcard.

Observe the daily lives of real birds, capture their moments, collect precious photos, and decorate your own birdwatching space.

• 📷 Photograph and collect various bird species

• 🌙 Experience day & night changes and the arrival of special birds

• 🏡 Build and decorate your own birdwatching habitat

• 🪶 Discover the unique behaviors and habits of different birds

🐛 Bugtopia

300+ lifelike bugs to collect and grow—breed them to unlock rare species! Customize your terrarium with 300+ landscaping items and 70+ backgrounds. A tiny, soothing nature escape on your screen!🦋🐌🦗🐝🐞🐛🦐

Dear birdwatchers,

We're excited to share some great news: the Tiny Pasture & Birdwatching Notebook Bundle is officially live!

Grab the bundle now to enjoy an extra discount and bring home two cozy desktop companions at an even better price. ✨

If you love turning your desktop into a lively little world, this bundle might be perfect for you:

🐄 In Tiny Pasture, raise adorable farm animals and watch them wander peacefully around the corner of your desktop.

🐦 In Birdwatching Notebook, discover, photograph, and document a variety of bird species while enjoying relaxing birdwatching moments throughout your work or study day.

Whether you're taking a short break, working, studying, or simply looking to make your desktop feel more alive, you're warmly invited to explore this little world filled with animals and nature.

⏰ Two charming desktop games, one convenient bundle!

Thank you for your support, and happy birdwatching!

Hello everyone,

In the build released on June 8, some players may have experienced an issue where save data was lost or rolled back.

This issue has now been fixed and will not occur in future versions. We sincerely apologize to all affected players.

What should I do if my save data is affected?

Method 1: Restore from an automatic backup (Recommended)

The game automatically keeps recent save backups.

Please navigate to the SaveBackup folder inside your save directory and check whether there is a backup file from the past day.

If a suitable backup exists:

This update focuses on improving various performance and stuttering issues!

Optimizations

Including Major Additions and Fixes!

Fixed bugs where multiplayer and achievements could not be activated, fixed lag when visiting friends, and fixed black screen issues!

New Content

For players currently experiencing a black screen when launching the game, please try the following:

✨ New Feature

1. Photo Save Location Can Now Be Customized

You can now change where your photos are stored.

Go to: Settings → Photo Settings to view and modify the save path.

🔥 Improvements

1. Performance Optimization

Improved stuttering and lag issues on some devices, especially when taking photos.

If you still experience lag after updating, we highly recommend installing the game on an SSD. This resolves the vast majority of performance issues. We will continue optimizing performance for users running the game on HDDs as well.

2. Earlier Multiplayer Access

The "Visit Others" multiplayer feature is now unlocked earlier—once you enter the Pond or Harbor area.

Connect with your friends sooner!

3. Added Birding Site Unlock Explanations

You can now hover your mouse over map icons to see unlock requirements for each birding location.

No more guessing where to go next!

4. Added Fruit Food-Type Icons

The Common Blackbird and Oriental Magpie-Robin now display fruit as part of their diet indicators.

5. Stranger Visit Optimization

Improved the random matchmaking logic for Multiplayer → Visit Strangers, making it less likely to match you with the same players repeatedly.

6. Bird Trait Panel Improvement

Bird trait descriptions now appear on hover instead of requiring a click for each entry.

🪄 Bug Fixes

If your save data appears to be missing after opening the game, please try the following steps:

• First, make sure the game is updated. You can force an update through Steam and install the latest version.

• Open the following folder: /Users/YourUsername/Library/Application Support/com.DefaultCompany.DeskBird

• If there is data inside, please back up all files first.

• Then locate the save folder: /Users/YourUsername/Library/Application Support/Birdwatching Notebook/Birdwatching Notebook Please back up all files there as well.

• Copy all files from /Users/YourUsername/Library/Application Support/com.DefaultCompany.DeskBird into /Users/YourUsername/Library/Application Support/Birdwatching Notebook/Birdwatching Notebook and replace all existing files.

Additionally, if some players cannot find their username folder:

On Mac, click 【Go】 in the top-left menu bar.

Select 【Go to Folder...】 and enter the following path:

~/Library/Application Support/Birdwatching Notebook/

We are truly sorry about this save issue, and we hope this solution can help everyone!

Thank you all so much for your support and feedback after launch 😭

Indie game development is never easy, but we’ll continue fixing issues and updating the game. We hope we can keep birdwatching together with all of you for a long time to come.

Fixes

Hello everyone — Birdwatching Notebook is now officially available on Steam!

Thank you so much to everyone who supported us along the way through wishlists, playtests, feedback, shares, and kind messages. As a small indie team, we never imagined that a quiet little game about birds and observation would receive so much love.

Now you can finally:

🐦 Discover and record 130+ bird species across 10 maps 📷 Capture adorable and unexpected bird behaviors 🏡 Build your own birdwatching spot 🌲 Explore and play with friends online

The game is also launching with a limited-time release discount!

If you enjoy cozy games, collecting creatures, relaxing exploration, or simply love birds, we hope Birdwatching Notebook can become a special little experience for you.

Thank you again for being here with us. Welcome to the world of Birdwatching Notebook ❤️

Join our Discord to report bugs, share feedback, and connect with fellow players.

Our closed beta is officially over — thank you to everyone who joined! We loved seeing your bird photos, your feedback, and the absolutely chaotic multiplayer moments 💚

Here’s a quick FAQ before launch:

📌 “How much is the game?”

It’ll be ¥36 RMB with a 10% launch discount for the first 7 days!

📌 “Any future updates or DLC?”

One new map, new bird species, and special bird behaviors are already in development — all planned as free updates to the base game!

📌 “Will there be Steam Workshop support?”

Maybe! If the community grows big enough, we’d love to explore it.

📌 “Are you making merch? And what about the anti-bird-collision stickers?”

Merch is something we’ll properly plan after launch. The stickers were actually a tiny passion project we couldn’t resist making first ✨

📌 “Will future maps also have transparent backgrounds?”

Yes!

📌 “How does multiplayer work? Can I steal feathers from my friends?”

You can visit friends — or even friendly strangers — by turning into a little bird and flying over to their world. No feather stealing… but you CAN gift feathers 🪶

…And maybe do some very weird little bird activities in other people’s birdwatching spots.

See you on May 27th.

Let’s go birdwatching together 🕊️

Birdwatching Notebook is opening a limited closed play-test 🌿

The upcoming closed play-test is primarily a pre-launch test, and we hope your participation can help us improve the overall gameplay experience (such as reducing bugs and polishing features).

Players who participate in the play-test will be credited in the game’s Special Thanks section, and we’re also planning a few small rewards for testers!

We’d really appreciate all your feedback 💚

👥 Only 50–100 players will be invited.

🗓️ From May 11 to May 17 only.

⏰ This time, you can:

✨ Explore new maps beyond the demo

✨ Try full-version features like online coop

✨ And discover even more upcoming content from the full release

📝 How to participate:

Sign up here: Birdwatching Notebook Closed Playtest - Submission Form

(Or Sign up by joining our Discord.)

Application Deadline: May 8th, 8:00 PM

Test invitations and Steam keys will be sent via email.

💚 And here’s the best part:

Your feedback will help us improve the game.

And all playtest players will be featured in our Special Thanks section.

We’re also preparing small rewards for early supporters 👀

Thank you for being part of the journey!

Wishlist now 🏃

Feature Changes

• Fully updated all music and sound effect assets for a brand-new audio experience!

• Added a feature that automatically opens the Photo Album the first time you save a photo.

Optimizations & Fixes

• Optimized memory and CPU usage.

• Improved the English localization layout for some UI elements.

• Improved the search UI experience for Blueprints and Photos.

• Fixed a bug where raptors could appear together with other birds.

• Fixed a bug where Prosperity was displayed incorrectly after applying a blueprint.

Feature Updates

• Added a feature where clicking the Bird Statue plays a bird chirping sound.

• Added a hint in Photo Mode to automatically follow a bird (if the player hasn’t used the follow feature before).

• Adjusted the save limit for each bird’s close-up type to 20 photos.

• The Chinese New Year event has ended. Locked New Year buildings will no longer appear in the building panel and cannot be unlocked for now.

Optimizations & Fixes

• Fixed an issue where the “Zzz” sleep icon for birds was facing the wrong direction.

• Fixed a bug where invalid buildings could appear after applying a blueprint.

• Improved the speed of applying blueprints.

• Optimized animation effects for the building UI.

Feature Adjustments

• The money cap for each birdwatching spot has been increased to 999,999.

• Slightly increased the brightness of Night Mode.

• Added a new frame rate setting in the Settings menu. Available options: 30, 60, 120, 240 FPS.

Optimizations

• Optimized the display logic of the birdwatching spot pop-up panel.

• Improved overall game stuttering issues.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed several bugs related to photo preview.

• Fixed a bug where Crested Myna would sleep with their eyes open.

• Fixed a bug where feathers could not be picked up after entering Photo Mode.

Hello everyone!

Due to save data loss issues caused by cloud synchronization,

we have temporarily disabled the cloud save feature on Mac systems.

If you lose your save data during this period,

please contact us and we will provide you with a max-level save file.

How to submit feedback: In the game, click Settings → Feedback → Fill in your issue and contact information → Send.

If your Mac shows a Steam cloud error, please go to your Steam Library → Right-click the game → Properties, and disable Steam Cloud.

We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience this may cause, and we will work hard to fix this issue as soon as possible!

The save corruption issue has been fixed.

If you experience any further progress loss, please immediately send feedback with your contact information — we can help restore your save data!

How to send feedback: In the game, go to “Settings - Feedback - Send”

PS: Save files before the hotfix cannot be recovered.

We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience caused.

Features

• Added cloud save support

• Added a separate category for commemorative buildings (Bird Statues) in the Building Collection

• Adjusted photo quality settings

Fixes & Optimizations

• Fixed a bug with affection display in the Collection

• Optimized some animations on the Collection page

• Improved localization adaptation for general notification pop-ups

Changes

• Pop-ups will no longer appear when the game window is not in focus, to avoid interruptions.

• Added support on Windows to hide the taskbar icon and display the game only in the system tray.

• Added a feature that allows players to press and hold the +/- buttons when purchasing buildings to quickly adjust the quantity.

Optimizations

• Improved English text display in the Blueprint interface.

• Optimized the zoom feel and zoom range of the birdwatching area.

• Optimized the scaling and pop-up position of the building operation panel.

• Improved the tutorial experience.

Fixes

• Fixed a layering issue when applying Blueprints.

• Fixed an issue where combined buildings could result in incorrect combinations.

Feature Change

• Changed the photo shortcut to: Right Mouse Button (when not in Building Mode)

Bug Fixes

• Fixed a bug where the bird statue could be obtained multiple times.

• Fixed a bug that allowed base to be purchased repeatedly.

• Fixed a bug where the Peregrine Falcon’s affinity reached the required level but its behavior did not unlock.

• Fixed save file corruption under certain abnormal conditions.

Optimizations

• Improved stuttering issues with dropped items.

• Improved stuttering during photography.

• Improved rendering speed of the photo page.

• Optimized the blueprint code length (though it’s still relatively long).

Hi everyone!

Birdwatching Notebook will be hosting a developer livestream starting at 17:00 on Feb 24 (PT) .

The stream will mainly feature a demo gameplay showcase and is expected to last around three hours.

We’d love for you to drop by and check it out!

The demo is now available — feel free to give it a try!

Wishlist now!

Bug Fixes & Updates

• Fixed a bug where the display order of buildings could change when dragging multiple buildings together.

• Optimized so that the building panel automatically collapses when constructing food buildings.

• Optimized tutorial pop-ups to support dragging.

• Fixed an issue where the upgrade panel would disappear if the mouse moved too quickly.

• Optimized the food drop effect.

• Optimized so that zoom is also locked when birdwatching panel is locked.

• Improved the clickable area of buttons in the Blueprint – Missing Buildings interface, enhancing usability.

• Improved the French localization interface.

• Optimized the feedback dialog box to support line breaks.

Hello everyone!

After the Demo launched, we carefully reviewed player feedback and made several optimizations to the close-up photography feature. We hope these improvements will make birdwatching and photography more relaxing and intuitive, while still preserving the challenge and fun.

We sincerely appreciate everyone who played the Demo and shared feedback with us! The specific improvements are as follows:

Feature Updates

• Significantly improved the close-up photography experience

  • Birds blocked by buildings can now still trigger close-ups photograph

  • Added Follow & Lock mode: long-press to lock camera onto a bird, making it easier to capture birds in flight

  • Extended the duration of birds preening

  • Birds now hover for 1 second while feeding mid-air, making them easier to capture

• Added a shortcut key for Photo Mode : C

• Reach maximum affection to obtain a bird statue; collect all close-ups to unlock a small crown icon in the gallery

Bug Fixes

• Fixed a bug where dropped items were still visible in “Pretend Not Playing” mode

• Fixed a bug where shared photos were flipped on Windows

• Fixed a bug where New Year building prompts could be blocked

• Fixed a bug where the Oriental Scops-Owl could jump on gold ingots

• Fixed a bug where birds could walk in mid-air

• Fixed a bug where incorrect names were displayed after opening close-up photos

• Fixed a bug where blueprints were missing building panels and food building icons displayed incorrectly

• Adjusted the display order of close-up photos in the bird gallery

New Features

• Added an option to lock the position and size of the birdwatching spots while in Photo Mode.

• Added a center offset adjustment when snapping to edges in Photo Mode, allowing birds near the boundary to be properly captured.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed an issue where feathers could sometimes not be collected after taking a photo.

• Fixed a construction bug related to the Flower Basket building.

• Fixed an issue where infrastructure borders could disappear after taking a photo.

• Fixed a bug where birds walking or flying could be incorrectly identified as “feeding” when photographed in close-up.

Improvements

• Improved French and Japanese UI display.

• Fixed several Japanese localization issues.

• Optimized frame delay issues when taking photos.

Hello everyone, welcome to Bird Island!  

Happy Chinese New Year! Birdwatching Notebook Demo is Out Now!

Play the Demo Now!

Main updates in this demo:  

1. Blueprint feature: Save your setups, share them with others, and switch between different layouts quickly!  

2. Bird affection system: Visiting birds more can unlock new behaviors.  

3. Photograph System: Capture special moments. Collect all actions could unlock bird statues.  

4. New settings: Launch at startup, Drop Item Opacity, Auto Day/Night and Auto Weather, \ , lock your birdwatching spot, and more to explore.  

5. Chinese New Year limited Buildings and Base: 6 new buildings and 1 Base, available during Spring Festival.  

6. New birds and behaviors: 2 new bird species, plus preening and deep sleep behaviors.  

7. New buildings: Narrow Frames—no extra space taken! Added a new plant in food chart, so seed-eating birds now have a food source too.  

8. Device adaptation: Now supports portrait mode!  

9. Tutorial interface: Got questions? Check out the tutorial!

At the same time, we want to express our heartfelt thanks to all the players who participated in the Playtest.  

Your invaluable feedback and enthusiastic support have helped us refine the game over the past month!  

With the demo now open to everyone, we will close applications and access to the beta version.  

See you all in the demo!  

Your data and progress from the playtest will carry over to the demo.  

Thank you once again 🥹  

Your feedback is always welcome! We’ll keep working hard on development!

• Join Us on Discord

• Birdwatching Notebook Demo Player Survey Questionnaire

• Or just tell us through Feedback Feature in Settings within game!

Hello everyone, welcome to Bird Island!

This is Birdwatching Notes, a desktop bird-watching game on Steam.

Our playable demo is finally available!

Developers will be live streaming on Steam to showcase the demo content.

The stream will begin on February 15th, from 19:00 to 23:00 (ET, UTC-5:00), and will last 3–4 hours.

Wishlist Now!