The Records

The WBRC data consists of well over 600,000 records of species recorded by people over the last 150 years. Each species recorded in the county has a record card, or cards (if there are a lot of records). The early records were extracted from published journals and then transcribed onto the record cards, the more recent records have been submitted to the WBRC directly.

What is a biological record?

The minimum requirements for a biological record are:

A species name - what was there?
A place - where was it?
A date - when was it there?
A recorder's name - who found it?

Species name

For many things, an English name will do if this identifies the species sufficiently well - as will apply to most birds, butterflies, larger moths, flowering plants and so on, but for other groups, where often there will be no common name, then the scientific name is needed. Although the idea of scientific names is to provide a 'fixed' nomenclature, this often does not happen, and so it is also useful to know which book was used to identify the specimen.

Place

A grid reference from an Ordnance Survey Map provides the best record; for common species a 1 km square reference (4 figures) is probably sufficient, although a 6-figure reference is better, and rarer species should definitely have a 6-figure reference. A place name is usually given to provide an additional check on the locality; W. of Crowle for instance. (Even some of our most experienced recorders sometimes get the Grid Reference wrong!)

Date

Day-month-year provides enough information, but even a year alone, or a span of years can be quoted and still provide a useful record which shows that a species has been present. Having a day and month provides more information about when species emerge, whether seasons are getting earlier, and can even help to confirm the accuracy of a record.

Recorder

At least a name, and probably an address or e-mail address, for rarer species so that any query can be followed up. Someone else (the Determiner) may have identified the specimen, and their name should be given as well.

Other information

All sorts of further information can be stored on the computer database if it is thought that it could be useful in the future - the host-plant for caterpillars, the tree species associated with a fungus, whether it was a male or female specimen that you found for spiders, whether it was on a north-facing wall for lichens, even how you found or caught the species.

If you are doing a site survey which collects a number of records, these can all be sent in on the same sheet, which saves storage space (the original documentation is usually kept), and can save time inputting the data. If you keep you records on a spreadsheet, such as Excel, this is also a convenient way for us to receive them, as it may help us to avoid typing everything in again.

Records can be sent by post to:

WBRC, Lower Smite Farm, Hindlip, Worcester, WR3 8SZ

or by e-mail to records@wbrc.org.uk

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