Yorkshire Wildlife Trust’s Great Yorkshire Creature Count is back for its third year and sign-up is open now for you to get involved in our region’s very own doorstep safari. It’s fun and easy to do and everyone can take part.
By Zoe Drye
Published 7th Jun 2022, 12:19 BST
Updated 7th Jun 2022, 12:46 BST
From noon on Saturday, June 18 until noon on Sunday, June 19, Yorkshire Wildlife Trust is asking folk across our county to spot, count and record the creatures in their outdoor spaces – starting with its checklist of 30 creatures great and small.
5. Dunnock
Taking part in the Great Yorkshire Creature Count is good for nature and spending time in nature is great for mental health and wellbeing.
Dr Amir Khan Vice, The Wildlife Trusts President and Bradford GP, said: “Our outdoor spaces are a lifeline for wildlife and also vital for improving our own health and wellbeing. “By noticing and recording the wildlife where you live you will be helping nature and our vision of creating a wilder Yorkshire.”
7. Spot, count and record creatures in your outdoor space
There are more gardens than nature reserves in the UK and they provide crucial
corridors, nesting areas and places to shelter for many of our much-loved creatures. But nature needs us.
With their habitats destroyed and the pressures of the climate emergency increasing, even our once widespread creatures such as the common frog or the
garden bumblebee are declining.
8. Yorkshire Wildlife Trust has a vision of a wilder Yorkshire where our towns, cities and countryside are connected and rich in wildlife.
It is challenging its supporters to find out more about how many different creatures are making themselves at home, how to protect them, and how wildlife-friendly our gardens are. Helen Pedley ha sbeen interested in nature – particularly birds and flowers – since she was a child.
The Great Yorkshire Creature Count gave her the opportunity to sit, watch and immerse herself in her garden wildlife. She said: “I found it really easy to take part – the spotter sheet is a great help for the most common things you’ll see.
“It’s so easy then to load up your records on the website. If it’s not on the sheet, most people can record a photo just with a phone, and the amount of information I got from the iNaturalist app was immense. “Even if you’re looking at a
flower bed for 15 minutes in your lunch break, it still gives you that little mental pick me up if you see something beautiful in a flower or a butterfly, but if you’ve got more time you can develop your knowledge”.