Big Count Species

Dragonflies and damselflies are regarded as good indicators of both climate change and the condition of our wetlands. Common species can be easily identified but others require a certain level of expertise – but we just need you to record them all! You can take a picture and send it in with your sighting or use Seek to help with identification before you log the record.

Being low in the food chain, they are an important part of ecosystems, converting nutrients such as calcium from rotting vegetation, soil and fungi into their bodies and shells, which are then fed upon by a wide variety of other species – so from that perspective it’s important we monitor populations.

Fungi have their own kingdom and are neither plant nor animal. They can appear in any season if conditions are right, though you’d be correct in thinking they are more likely to be seen in summer and autumn. Taking pictures and using photo tools will enable you to stay safe from touching the wrong ones and us to gain a greater understanding of this under-recorded group.

It’s odd but some people don’t like spiders. They, like bats, stop our world from being overrun by flies. They also protect our food crops and are an important food source in the food chain for many other animals