Never have your eyes on the ground been more vital!
Once a year the Somerset Wildlife Trust ask everyone to keep their eyes peeled for a handful of species over an extended period of time for The Big Count!
Taking place between the 16th and 25th June, The Big Count 2023 is the Somerset Wildlife Trusts big flagship wildlife count of the year and part of the Great Somerset Wildlife Count initiative – a programme of citizen science events and activities that aims to get YOU inspired and involved in collecting important data about the wildlife on your doorstep.
What species will we be counting and why?
If we don’t notice wildlife declines, we run the risk of losing species forever. Identifying trends in both the mixture AND quantity of species tells us a lot about the quality of the habitats we have across the county – whether that’s woodland, wetland, grassland, or urban green spaces in your neighbourhood.
Within those habitats there are certain species that are that particularly either thrive in those different conditions or are particularly sensitive to changes within them – whether that’s changes brought about by climate change or physical changes such as nutrients in water (amongst other things!)
So, the species we have chosen we think will give us good indications of what’s happening in those different habitats. These are the gaps in our knowledge that we need your help to fill!
There are twelve species they want you to count which includes the Marbled white butterfly, the Bullfinch, the garden spider and the garden snail.
For more information and to download your pack visit – Somerset Wildlife Trust
