How to Record

QR Code Sign

What wildlife have you seen?

We are often asked "What wildlife should I record"? Record whatever wildlife you feel confident in identifying, and remember to put your records somewhere they can be accessed and used by others. Our Online Recording System is the ideal place! 

Wildlife you might like to record could include the frogs that visit your garden pond, chaffinches using your bird feeder, or the first time you've encountered a red squirrel in the wild. We are interested in all wildlife sightings and receive hundreds of thousands a year from expert and novice wildlife recorders. So please let let us know what wildlife you've seen.

Look out for our QR code signs or register to use the Online Recording System and start recording wildlife today!

Making a wildlife record

A wildlife record consists of four essential elements, but adding as much information as you can, including adding a photo, can help us check that what you've seen is correct. 

  1. What did you see? We need to know the name of the species. You could use a field guide or online resource to help
  2. Where did you see it? Species records need a grid reference to let us know where you saw it. You can get this from a paper or online map
  3. Who saw it? If you saw the species, we'd ideally like to know your full name, but maybe several of you saw it and so you can add their names too
  4. When did you see it? The exact date you saw the species, but sometimes you can just put a month or a year

If you use the Online Recording System you can select what you've seen using an online species dictionary, you can say where you've seen it using online maps. The system will automatically enter your name to indicate who saw it (but you can change it if you wish), and you can record when you saw it using a slide-out calendar. If you upload a photograph from your phone the system can work out a date and grid reference from that. Under Anything else you can add other useful notes about what you saw.

When to record?

You can record wildlife throughout the year, but some species are only visible at certain times. For example, many flowering plants only show their distinctive flowering parts from spring onwards, whereas certain species of birds only visit us in winter. If you want some ideas of what to record and when, visit our Species Focus page for loads of interesting facts about species you might wish to record. Or sign up to our On the Record newsletter, so we can keep you informed of what to record and when.

FAQs - Recording

Here's some ways you can help record wildlife

You can record things you see regularly, for example birds in your garden or standout species, such as ones you haven't seen before or you think are rare. Cofnod are interested in all wildlife sightings and sharing them with us means there's a permanent record of what you've seen and it can be used by others to help wildlife conservation.

A wildlife record consists of four essential elements:

  1. What you've seen - The name of the species (English, Welsh or Scientific name)
  2. Where you saw it - A grid reference and name of the location
  3. When you saw it - The date and sometimes time of your sighting
  4. Who saw it - It's good to have the name of the person who recorded it 

You can add other information to your wildlife record, such as how many you saw, whether it was male or female, or add a photo. If someone other than the original recorder identified the species (from a sample or photograph) then please enter this detail in the Determiner field. Sometimes specific extra detail is required, particularly for bat records. All this information helps make the record more useful and more likely to be accepted by a Local Expert during the process of checking and accepting/rejecting the record (known as verification).

Recording wildlife can be fun and creates a record of what wildlife you see over time. Sharing your wildlife sightings with us means they can be used mutiple times to help wildlife conservation. We'll share your data with other people recording wildlife, with academics developing their research, and with decision makers or policy makers. 

The easiest way to share your wildlife record is to register for our Online Recording System, which has lots of nice tools such as online maps and species dictionary. If you'd prefer to use your smartphone to record wildlife you can use the LERC Wales App or feel free to send us the record by emailing us with your sighting (our record submission template can be downloaded here). We also encourage people to make contact with relevant Local Experts in particular species groups. 

We're often asked whether recorders should send copies of their records to us if they have already submitted them through an online recording portal such as iRecord, iNaturalist or BirdTrack, or to a National Scheme or Society e.g. BSBI. The simple answer is that you shouldn't need to submit your records twice, as there are various pathways in place to share data. However not all records will be available to us therefore just get in touch if you'd like us to check on your specific example, then take a look at our in depth article on online recording.

Many of the records we receive, including through the Cofnod Online Recording System, require verification (checking and accepting/rejecting) before we can use them in data outputs. This is usually done by a Local Expert in that species group and geographic area. Some do not need verification, usually because they are of species that are relatively easy to identify (as defined by National Recording Schemes and Societies). If you have submitted a record using the Cofnod ORS you can tell whether or not it's in use by the symbol that appears next to it. Hover over the symbol with your mouse to see full details. If it isn't in use don't worry, it will get looked at but all local experts who verify records are doing so voluntarily. Please be patient and get in touch with us if you have any specific concerns.

The Cofnod Grant could help you improve your wildlife rececording. We offer grants of up to £500 to help buy equipment, pay for training or anything else which might help you generate more or better quality records. 

On the Record

On the Record is our monthly online newsletter. It's full of interesting information about local wildlife recording, including that month's events and what to look out for in our Species Focus feature. Subscribe now to get next month's issue .

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