Outer Hebrides Biological Recording  Outer Hebrides Biological Recording
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Hebridean Wildlife on the Map

Garden Watch Project

Gardens are wonderful places for wildlife and provide food and refuge for an enormous range of animals from bees and butterflies to frogs, dragonflies and small mammals. Some garden inhabitants maybe less welcome, but there should always be room for a few garden snails and slugs. In a wildife friendly garden the ladybirds and hoverfly larvae will eat the aphids, the frogs and large ground beetles will help with keeping the slugs under control, but best of all the pollinating insects will ensure that you have a good crop of beans,tomatoes and fruit.

We would like to know about the wildlife in your garden - the good, bad and the ugly. The pests, the pollinators, the weeds and the wild flowers, they are all part of the garden wildlife community.

This is a great survey for new wildlife recorders and young nature detectives. To help you we will be posting information about which species you might see in your garden each month.

If you would like to try something a little more challenging survey you might like to try the My Patch survey

My Patch

How to take part

  •  Your garden can be any size, beautifully cultivated or a little wild round the edges, full of flowers or vegetables, or just a patch of grass
  •  You will need tell us where your garden is located. A map reference would be good, but an address and a post code will be fine.
  •  Please try to record the wildlife you see on your site on a regular basis, once or twice a month is fine or just when see see something interesting
  •  You can chose which species you wish to record. We would like you to include the common species as well as the more unusual. You might find the the species featured in the OHBR wildlife leaflets a good place to start
  •  You can record each species more than once - it will help us understand when certain species use your garden
  •  If you are unsure about the identification of a species, you can post a photograph on the Facebook page or contact one of the OHBR team to ask for help using the contact form on the website
  •  Add your observation to the record form. You can down-load the form and either post or e-mail it to the address on the form
  •   You can send us your records at any time during the year
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