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Nearly 100 different species recorded across Somerset in Wildlife Trust’s annual citizen science event

This June saw the return of Somerset Wildlife Trust’s The Big Count initiative, which encouraged people across the county to help their local wildlife by recording the species they could find over a 10-day period.

Somerset’s biggest citizen science event of the year, The Big Count, recently returned for another year, and over 800 people from across the county signed up to help collect important information about the species living right on their doorsteps. 

The count, which is a joint initiative between Somerset Wildlife Trust and the Somerset Environmental Records Centre (SERC), took place between June 16th – 25th and challenged participants to get outside and take photographs of their local wildlife, uploading their observations to the popular recording app iNaturalist. People of all ages were encouraged to take part from their gardens, local parks, and on their way to their schools and workplaces by looking out for a specific set of species and species groups, which included snails, spiders, certain species of butterfly, and, added for 2025, the red fox. 

This was the fourth year the organisations hosted the count, which has now generated over 3,000 species records for Somerset since its launch in 2022, including over 630 new records in this year’s count. 

Nearly 100 different species were identified as part of The Big Count 2025, but the most-recorded species were: 

  • The white-lipped snail (46 observations)
  • The red fox (44 observations)
  • The garden snail (41 observations)
  • Common bird’s-foot trefoil (39 observations)
  • The brown-lipped snail (28 observations)
  • The European goldfinch (27 observations) 

Becky Fisher, Head of Engagement at Somerset Wildlife Trust, says: “It’s been fantastic to see so many people getting involved in The Big Count 2025, and we would like to say an enormous thank you to everyone who got stuck in! Citizen science is such a quick and easy way of helping wildlife at home — or from anywhere across the county. Taking part in time-sensitive projects like this is particularly helpful for us, but you can use apps like iNaturalist to record the wildlife you see during any time of the year, and we have lots of resources available on our website to help, so please do take a look!” 

White-lipped Snail

White-lipped Snail ©Nick Upton/2020VISION

Young red fox cleaning itself in a park, with buildings in the back ground.

Image: Bertie Gregory/2020VISION

Young red fox (Vulpes vulpes) cleaning itself infront of buildings, urban park, Bristol, winter.

Snail on gardening gloves

Snail on gardening gloves - Tom Marshall

Common Bird's-foot-trefoil

Bird's-foot-trefoil ©Philip Precey

Brown-lipped Snail

Brown-lipped Snail ©Philip Precey

Goldfinch

©Neil Aldridge

Ellen Phillpot, SERC Manager, adds: “This year’s count has helped us get ever closer to a long-term data set that we can begin to draw trends from. The addition of new species has helped us understand that some species may just be under recorded rather than experiencing declines. The last Somerset State of Nature report stated an average of 14 rabbits and 22 red foxes were recorded a year between 2010-19. In just ten days, 15 rabbits and 44 red foxes have been recorded through The Big Count 2025! We are thankful for citizen science projects like this one, as they truly make a difference to our record holdings and understanding of the species within Somerset.” 

This year, The Big Count was funded through The National Lottery Heritage Fund and made possible thanks to funds raised by National Lottery players. Somerset Wildlife Trust is delighted to celebrate the count’s success and reports that it will be returning in 2026 for its fifth year. In the meantime, the public can find out more about citizen science on the Somerset Wildlife Trust website: www.somersetwildlife.org/get-involved/citizen-science

Editor's notes

Press Office

Emily Weatherburn | emily.weatherburn@somersetwildlife.org | 07840 840737 Annabelle Stidwell | annabelle.stidwell@somersetwildlife.org | 07548 764279  

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Somerset Wildlife Trust, 34 Wellington Rd, Taunton TA1 5AW Somersetwildlife.org 

About Somerset Wildlife Trust

Somerset Wildlife Trust is a nature conservation charity. Its purpose is to restore and protect the populations of species across the county and the habitats they call home. Climate change is one of the greatest threats to nature, natural habitats and the ecosystems that support our life on earth.  Our aims are to help address both the ecological and climate crises and put nature back into people’s lives.  

Nature reserves and protected sites on their own are not enough. In order to reverse the decline in species diversity and abundance, and create resilient landscapes and habitats for wildlife and for people that can adapt to climate change, we need to:   

  • Encourage and support landowners to manage their land positively for nature; create more space for nature.  
  • Connect wildlife-rich spaces across the wider landscape to create a robust Nature Recovery Network for Somerset.  
  • Create a movement of people – at least 1 in 4 – that take action for nature’s recovery across Somerset as part of Team Wilder.   

This is at the core of our new 10-year strategy. Nationally the Wildlife Trusts are calling for at least 30% of land to be managed positively for nature by 2030. What we do in Somerset must contribute to that national ambition. You can read our full 10-year strategy, Wilder Somerset here. 

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