Plant and Pollinator wildlife surveys

Discover how to record the wildlife in your urban environment.

Woodland Tust

Report the first flowering of a selection of plants, shrubs and grasses, as well as a range of events relating to trees.

These events are recorded each year to help track the impact of climate change and weather on our wildlife.

Equipment: None

UK Pollinator Monitoring Scheme

Carry out a 10 minute count of the number of pollinators visiting a flower from a list of 14 target flowers. The survey can be done in good weather any time between between April and September.

Survey guidance and forms are provided and you can upload your results through the website or the app.

Equipment: Some 50cm long sticks (or similar) and the survey forms.

Woodland Tust

Report your first sightings of a select list of butterflies, ladybirds, bees and wasps each year to help track the impact of climate change and weather on these insects.

Equipment: None

Butterfly Conservation

Count butterflies and day-flying moths for 15 minutes during sunny weather in the survey period. Check the Big Butterfly Count website for the survey dates each year.

You can download an ID guide and submit your results through the app.

Equipment: none - just the ID guide provided.

OPAL/Imperial college

A survey for pollinators before and after making habitat improvements to your green space. The project data collection has closed, but you can still use the survey methodology and resources to carry out this survey.

Equipment: Tape measure, quadrat, thermometer, stopwatch, camera, survey forms.

Natural History Museum

A downloadable guide to the common UK invertebrate groups. Includes a handy summary table of key characteristics and clear illustrations.

Natural History Museum

An easy to use guide to the six most common UK bumblebees.

Buglife 

This chart (a PDF booklet) can be used to help you identify some of the different groups of invertebrates that visit your wildflowers.

For the purpose of the guide, invertebrates are categorised into six groups: bumblebees, honeybee and solitary bees, hoverflies and other flies, beetles, butterflies and moths, and wasps.