The Wildlife Information Centre

Biological data for south-east and part of central Scotland

Male Fern (Dryopteris filix-mas)
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Recording spreadsheets


Contributing Data

TWIC welcomes all wildlife records for south-east Scotland and part of central Scotland (See Figure 1). Records of common species as well as rarities are useful to us as they contribute to knowledge of species distributions and provide baseline data for detecting future changes.


What to record

To create a valid wildlife record, the following information is required:

  • Who - recorder's full name and contact details (to follow up any unusual sightings)
  • What you saw - normally the name of the species (Scientific name or common name)
  • Where - location name and grid reference to identify the place you saw it - use the Bedfordshire Natural History Society's grab a grid reference tool to obtain a grid reference
  • When - the date of your sighting - ideally DD/MM/YYYY, but month and year or even year are acceptable

In addition to the four W's above, other information may be valuable, such as information on habitat, numbers seen, substrate, sex, stage and survey method (e.g. moth trap).


How to record

We prefer to receive data in electronic format as it cuts down on data processing time and reduces transcription errors.

Spreadsheet

Please enter your sightings into one of our standard recording spreadsheets and email this to TWIC. You can download a simple Excel Recording Form here. We prefer to receive your records annually or bi-annually as a batch, rather than sporadically through the year.

Online recording (iRecord)

iRecord (https://www.brc.ac.uk/irecord/) is managed by the Biological Records Centre and all records are accessible to TWIC and recording schemes. Registration is required (email needed) to get the full benefit of the site, but it is free to register and use. This online recording option allows individuals to upload photos in support of their sightings which can aid verification. The site is especially useful for casual sightings. There is also a phone app. that links to this site. For more information please visit: https://irecord.org.uk/app/. Note that TWIC is not responsible for external sites.

Please note that by submitting records to TWIC you are agreeing that we may share your records with other organisations and users for environmental decision-making, education, research and other public benefit uses in accordance with The Wildlife Information Centre's Controlling Access to Data policy. Your name will form part of the record that is collated and disseminated, but personal details, such as addresses, will not be passed on to third parties. Our Privacy Notice can be downloaded here.

If you would like any further advice about submitting data to TWIC then please contact us.

Recording notebook


Figure 1: Area covered by The Wildlife Information Centre. Map contains Ordnance Survey data copyright Crown copyright and database right 2016.


TWIC is a company limited by guarantee - registered in Scotland No. SC234339. A recognised Scottish Charity SC034113. This project is supported by NatureScot.