Charity calls for people to record local wildlife sightings during Lockdown 3

Charity calls for people to record local wildlife sightings during Lockdown 3

The county’s largest nature conservation charity is asking people to look for wildlife and record their sightings at home or during their daily exercise during Lockdown 3.

Staffordshire Wildlife Trust relies on records of wild species across the county which provide invaluable information to conservationists about what species are under threat, the trends and movements of different species, and where wildlife surveys may need to be undertaken. It is also used by planning authorities and developers who want to find out information about the wildlife in a particular area.

The whole of the country entered another national lockdown on January 6th, and the Trust is keen to remind people to look for species in their gardens or while out on their once permitted daily exercise in their local areas.

Staffordshire Ecological Record (SER), based at Staffordshire Wildlife Trust, maintains a database of all records of wild species in the county. The database currently holds 1.5 million records.

Records are sent in by amateur naturalists, special interest groups and members of the public.

Rory Middleton, Senior Ecological Data Officer for Staffordshire Wildlife Trust, said: “The database gives us vital data and provides important information about which species are under threat, their potential movements and where surveys might need to be undertaken in future.

“All records are welcome, from very common to rare species. These records would be very much appreciated and we want people to look for flora and fauna as part of their routine, if they can, when out on their daily walk or in their gardens.”

You can send details of your sighting to SER online, by email to records@staffs-ecology.org.uk or in writing to SER, The Wolseley Centre, Wolseley Bridge, Stafford, ST17 0WT. 

Records would need to include the name of recorder, details of where the sighting took place, including postcode, and date of sighting. People are welcome to attach photos of what they have spotted too.