Over 10,000 species of wildlife recorded in the Sheffield region on new website

Over 10,000 different wildlife species have been recorded in Sheffield and Rotherham, thanks to a new National Lottery funded website.
Nature Counts, a species recording website and database by Sheffield and Rotherham Wildlife Trust, has hit over 10,000 records since its launch in July 2019.Nature Counts, a species recording website and database by Sheffield and Rotherham Wildlife Trust, has hit over 10,000 records since its launch in July 2019.
Nature Counts, a species recording website and database by Sheffield and Rotherham Wildlife Trust, has hit over 10,000 records since its launch in July 2019.

Nature Counts, a species recording website and database by Sheffield and Rotherham Wildlife Trust, has hit over 10,000 records since its launch in July.

The launch of the website was made possible thanks to money raised by National Lottery players, and it now makes it easy for Trust staff and volunteers, as well as members of the public, to upload details of the wildlife and plants they’ve spotted in the area.

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Dr Jo Judge, CEO of the National Biodiversity Network Trust, said: “Nature Counts is a brilliant initiative that’s getting local people out and about engaging with nature. The 10,000 wildlife records that have been generated will be accessible for others to use for conservation, planning and policy decisions.”

As well as over 6,000 historic records added to the site by Trust volunteers and over 1,000 new records generated through the Data for Nature project, there have been a variety of different species recorded by the public.

From the fringed water lily to a family of hedgehogs and shrew, there have been interesting sightings.

The Sheffield and Tinsley canal has been a popular spot for dragonfly sightings, including the common hawker and golden- ringed dragonfly, whilst the Rivelin Valley remains a favourite for spotting birds such as grey heron and grey wagtail.

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The unsettled weather during August meant there were fewer butterfly sightings than expected recorded, however there have been sightings of a long winged conehead and a Roesel’s Bush-cricket south of Rotherham; both species more commonly found in the south of the country.