Photo: Pasque flower (Andrew Carter)
Our our previous introductory page on wildlife recording, we have explained why biological records are very important. The NBN atlas has some general information on wildlife recording. Here, we let you know of some of our favourite reporting channels for recording wildlife:

Generalist methods (to record all living beings):

iRecord (for computers and smartphones). 'A site for managing and sharing wildlife records. The goal of iRecord is to make it easier for wildlife sightings to be collated, checked by experts and made available to support research and decision-making at local and national levels.'

Living Record (for computers) 'makes it quick and easy for you to record the wildlife that you see. It provides you with your own records system and access to a selection of distribution maps. Records are reviewed and passed on to local record centres and to organisations working for conservation. Your records form part of the big picture which is used nationally and locally to understand species distribution and population trends, to identify key sites and to develop conservation plans.'

If you would like to submit a large number of records, you can also do it electronically via a spreadsheet, find out more on the Wiltshire and Swindon Biological Records Centre website. Paper records are no longer accepted anywhere but if you have found old paper records about wildlife in Tisbury, we would be happy to have a look at them and see if they are worth digitising (please get in touch).


Species/group specific apps:

If you are interested in recording wildlife but recording everything seems a bit overwhelming, you can focus on specific species or groups of your interest. There are many different recording schemes and these are just some of the ones we like to use most:

MammalMapper (for smartphones) A smartphone app that can be downloaded free of charge from the relevant stores. 'Most wild mammals, including rabbits and iconic species like hedgehogs and mountain hares, are very poorly monitored. The Mammal Mapper is designed to record information on the location and number of animals spotted on walks or bicycle rides.'

In addition to these, there are other ways in which you can record whatever wildlife is of most interest to you and at different levels of complexity and involvement, for example birds (BTO), pollinators (UKBMS, FIT COUNT POMS), earthworms (NERS), beetles (Coleoptera), etc.
Animal remains

Did you know that animal remains (either deceased wildlife and excrements) are also worth recording and maybe even sampling?

For example, you can help reptile conservation by submitting any shed skins you find, which can be used for DNA studies.

The Wiltshire Mammal Group Portal has some information about animal remains focused on mammals in Wiltshire. Here is more general information about wildlife in general:
Reporting dead wildlife

In addition to the biological reporting methods indicated above, you can also report dead animals in other schemes (NOTE: these other schemes don't share their records with the Biological Record Centres, so please make sure to also enter the record with a generalist method as described above, for example iRecord).

You can report dead animals found on the road on The Road Lab (formerly, project Splatter). This citizen science project started in 2013 aims to quantify and map wildlife roadkill across the UK. You can either report on their website or via the free app, available for Android and iPhone.

You can report dead animals found in your garden on this Garden Wildlife Health online survey that will help you report any wild animal deaths, learn about possible causes of illness and obtain feedback on how to improve your garden for wildlife and specific species advice.

Bird flu update - Have you found a dead bird? Then follow APHA's advice.
Sampling dead wildlife*

The Wildlife Disease & Contaminant Monitoring & Surveillance Network has some information on interesting dead animals (birds and mammals) already. 

Further information on sampling dead mammals can be found on the Wiltshire Mammal Group Portal.

Other animals worth sampling:

Dead birds of prey (Predatory Bird Monitoring Scheme): This monitoring scheme quantifies the concentrations of contaminants in selected species of predatory birds in Britain.

Ticks (UK Health Security Agency): this programme aims to monitor tick distribution and seasonality on a nationwide scale, determine the diversity of ticks infesting humans and animals and detect non-native tick species.

Amphibians and reptiles found in your garden.
What to do if you've found a dead animal?
* NOTES:

Most samples, either of faecal material or dead animals, must be stored in a cool location to ensure they do not degrade. Before taking any samples, make sure you have the appropriate personal protective equipment to do it safely (disposable gloves at least!) and you do not run any risks. Larger dead animals such as hares, otters and birds of prey should normally be double bagged.

If you would like to sample dead animals found in Tisbury and surrounding areas, we may be able to help you with paperwork and logistics (sampling, storage and dispatch), please get in touch.

If we have missed an important wildlife group or species that can be sampled to help conservation research, please get in touch!