Recording wildlife sightings- some questions

Some questions for everyone: Do sightings need to be out of the ordinary to be worth recording? What makes sightings worth recording?

And how do you record what you see? Do you make a list on paper or on a computer? Do you send in your records? Perhaps you use online recording and do you recommend iNaturalist, iRecord, iSpot or get online another way?

Let’s hear what you think!

4 thoughts on “Recording wildlife sightings- some questions”

  1. When it comes to “what to record”, Barnsley Biological Record Centre will gladly accept records of commonplace flora, fauna and fungi. Sadly, at a time of declining biodiversity, we cannot assume that commonplace species will always remain commonplace!

  2. It’s good if everyone contributes with observations and reporting of all wildlife, however commonplace it may seem; we need to be aware that what is common today may not be common tomorrow.

  3. As my main interest is wild plants, this is what I set out to record but I also note down anything of interest I find along the way, especially insects which is my other main area of interest. I do tend to record even the most common things if I see them on my wanderings.

    During lockdown I did something a bit different, I kept a garden record and I tried to list as much as possible on it – I am quite happy to send this on for Barnsley Nats and the Barnsley Biological Record Centre.

    When out in the field I record on a pocket notepad and take photos in case I need to refer back to confirm an ID or ask for help with it. Then I transfer these records onto a computer spreadsheet or word document as this keeps things nice and neat and makes it easier to send on to others.

    I tend not to use online recording as I genuinely don’t know which one I am supposed to use, there are so many, and what do they do with the data? Does it all end up at some sort of central records and if it does will sending my records into the Barnsley record centre create duplication? It all seems a bit of a minefield to me and it is the one question I have never managed to get a satisfactory answer to over the years – where should I send my records, and as I am not an expert, who verifies my sightings?

  4. I’ve been trying to get out when I can, usually around the Boylins area. I’ve been casually recording things over the last few months – just things that have caught my eye as I have been walking and a few from my back garden, but I don’t think there is anything out of the ordinary.

    I have been using iNaturalist. I started using it after the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust Garden bioblitz and have continued using it as it seems to work better on my phone than iRecord.

Leave a Reply to Adam Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

The maximum upload file size: 4 MB. You can upload: image. Links to YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and other services inserted in the comment text will be automatically embedded. Drop file here