Reporting and Recording Wildlife

Before we can help to conserve wildlife we must first know where it is and also whether it is doing well or declining - hence the importance of accurately recording our sightings.  A good record will include:

• What?            Name of the animal or plant
  
  
• When?           Date of sighting
   
• Where?          Acccurate location, e.g a 6 fig OS
                        grid ref
  
  
• How many?    Number of organisms present
  

Most Local Authorities have a Local Records Centre where records are stored and made available to "end users" such as planners.  Unfortunately Stirling and Clacks do not have a LRC though there are plans for Stirling and Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park to develop one in the future.

BRISC (Biological Recording in Scotland) is a charity with the aim of promoting the collection of wildlife data and a look at its website (www.brisc.org.uk) gives a good summary of what is involved in recording wildlife.

In addition, there are many specialist organisations which are actively engaged in surveying and recording particular groups of organisms and generally they welcome input from amateur recorders. They often offer help with identification if you email them a photograph.

BIRDS

The British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) is a UK charity with a Scottish base on the Stirling University campus. Its aim is to gather and provide unbiased information on birds and their habitats. It has a scientific staff and makes extensive use of volunteers. Well-known BTO surveys include Garden Birdwatch, Bird Atlas, Nest Record Scheme and Wetland Bird Survey (WeBS) and many local SWT members enjoy taking part in these. Full details on: www.bto.org.uk

The RSPB also encourages records from the public. Some of their surveys which anyone can take part in can be found on: www.rspb.org.uk/surveys

The Scottish Ornnithological Club (SOC) coordinates all bird records through its network of Bird Recorders and publishes an annual Bird Report
(www.the-soc.org.uk)

PLANTS

The Botanical Society of the British Isles (BSBI) is the main organisation gathering and collating plant records. Visit its Home Page (www.bsbi.org.uk) for guidance on how to submit records. It has a very good help section to aid identification and if you send details and a photograph someone will identify it for you.

Plantlife is a campaigning organisation ("the RSPB for plants") dedicated to conserving Britain's wild plants.  Details of how your plant records could help, e.g. the common plant survey, invasive aliens, are on their website:
www.plantlife.org.uk/plantlife-get-involved 

Stirling SWT has a spin-off group called PLANT (Plant Local Area NeTwork) which records plants and habitats of conservation concern locally e.g. orchids, species-rich meadows. If you are a keen botanist or would like to join a group to improve your ID skills please contact us via our Contacts page. 

BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS

Butterfly Conservation is interested in all butterfly and moth records and, in addition, runs surveys for particular species which rely on input from the public.  This year (2009) they are asking for small tortoiseshell and humming bird hawk moth records.  See: www.butterfly-conservation.org.uk

BUMBLEBEES

The Bumblebee Conservation Trust (based at Stirling University) is keen to have records of unusual bees from your garden and at the moment is also running a survey of the scarce blaeberry bumblebee - a striking red-tailed bee which you may have seen on the hills. Details on: www.bumblebeeconservation.org/surveys

BUGS - spiders, insects, worms, snails, etc.

Beetles, ladybirds and moths are some of the creatures which Buglife is interested in recording. See: www.buglife.org.uk/getinvolved/surveys

BELOW IS A LIST YOU CAN CLICK ON FOR INFORMATION AND ADVICE

Ancient trees

Ants

Badgers

Bats

Bees 

Birds 

Butterflies

Climate change 

Dolphins

Dragonflies

Ferns

Flowering plants 

Frogs(1)

Frogs(2)

Fungi(1)

Fungi(2)

Garden birds

House martins

Ladybirds

Lichens

Lizards(1)

Lizards(2)        

Mosses and liverworts

Moths(1)

Moths(2)                              

Nests

Newts 

Orchids

Phenology

Plants

Porpoises

Squirrels

Snakes(1)

Snakes(2)  

Toads(1)

Toads(2) 

Trees                    

Whales