Home Based Wildlife Resources

During the pandemic many organisations and individuals are providing online resources to help both adults and children stay connected with nature. Below is a list of resources collated by SEWBReC; if you have suggestions for us to add, please let us know via email to info@sewbrec.org.uk.

Timed events

Please see our event calendar for upcoming events (mostly online)

Timed online events are regularly organised by the following:

Cofnod

BIS

WTSWW Cardiff

Field Studies Council

British Ecological Society

Buglife

Tanyptera Trust

NatureSpot (includes several Leicestershire based societies)

Natural History Society of Northumbria

London Natural History Society

Zoological Society of London

Home & Garden Based Surveys (Winter)

SEWBReC Backlog BioBlitz

RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch (29-31 January)

SEWBReC Species of the Month

British Trust for Ornithology Garden BirdWatch

PondNet Spawn Survey

British Arachnological Society Lockdown Spider Surveys

Royal Horticulture Society Cellar Slug Hunt

Mammal Web (running a camera trap or identifying species in photos)

Ragwort Study Project

BSBI Garden Wildflower Hunt

Buglife Oil Beetle Hunt (particularly the winter active Rugged Oil Beetle)

Online Courses and Lectures

YouTube Playlists

A collection of video training courses from different organisations on species groups:

Terrestrial invertebrate courses playlist

Aquatic invertebrate courses playlist

Moth courses playlist

Bee courses playlist

Spider courses playlist

Flowering plant courses playlist

Lower plant courses playlist

Fungi courses playlist

Bird courses playlist

Mammal courses playlist

Amphibian and reptile courses playlist

Recording courses playlist

YouTube Channels

Wales Biodiversity Partnership (including WBP 2020 conference)

Mary Gillham Archive Project

Neath Port Talbot Local Nature Partnership

Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales

Gwent Wildlife Trust

Field Studies Council Virtual Meet Ups

British Ecological Society

Royal Society of Biology

UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology

Bumblebee Conservation Trust

British Trust for Ornithology

QGIS for Ecologists (also a Facebook Group)

Gilbert White & The Oates Collections

Natural History Museum

Dave Goulson (bees)

Peter Eeles (butterflies)

Anthony McCluskey (butterflies)

Tim Rich (plants)

Joshua Styles (plants)

Eco Sapien

The Urban Birder

Wren Wildlife and Conservation Group

talk:Wildlife

Chilterns Conservation Board

London Natural History Society

Dynamic Dunescapes

Self Isolating Bird Club

Conservation of woodland birds in a changing climate by Rob Thomas

Podcasts

Environment Platform Wales "Curious Minds"

Bat Conservation Trust "BatChat"

Melissa Harrison "The Stubborn Light of Things"

YOLO Birder "Golden Grenades"

ZSL "Wild Science"

UK Wildlife Podcast

Wild Flower Half Hour

Hidden Wings and Bloodlust

Completely Arbortrary

The Mushroom Hour

The Wildlife Garden

In defense of plants

Ecology tales from the field

British Ecological Society Journals

Entocast

Other Online Learning Material

Urban Buzz Workshops from Buglife

TED Talks including various ecology related topics

Online nature courses from FutureLearn, edX and Open University

CIEEM Resources Hub

Amphibian and Reptile Trust training courses

BSBI Archive

Online ID resources collated by CIEEM

Reading material

Gwent-Glamorgan Recorders' Newsletters

Garden Moth Scheme Newsletters

National Forum for Biodiversity Recording [NFBR] Newsletters

Biodiversity Heritage Library

Back issues of Natur Cymru

Other Home Based Activities

The Self Isolating Bird Club Twitter

Manchester Museum: falling in love with insects

Zooniverse

Herbaria@home

Submit a Marine Memory to Living Seas Wales

Wildlife gardening - There is tonnes of information online about how to make your garden more wildlife friendly, and winter can be a good time to get things set up for the season ahead. Add new habitats to your garden for groups such as hoverflies and ground nesting bees. Build a solitary bee hotel or bird box, set up a feeding station and plant pollinator friendly species. Dig a garden pond or create a hedgehog highway.

Write a newsletter article - lots of newsletters are always looking for content, including SEWBReC and NFBR.

Garden moth trapping - you could even sign up for the Garden Moth Scheme (March - November) and add to the national knowledge of moth populations. This blog from the Natural History Museum, London explains how to get started.

Start a garden species list - it's surprising what you can find in your garden, add your records to SEWBReCORD and track your progress.

Data entry - if you're sitting on lots of data waiting for a rainy day, this could be a great time to get it digitised. Get in touch with SEWBReC if you would like any assistance or to discuss the best methods to get your records to us. During January 2021 you can win a prize for entering old data, by taking part in the Backlog BioBlitz.

Identify specimens - this could be a great opportunity to dust off any old specimens and get them under the microscope. Who knows what treasures you might have waiting for you.

Wildlife Gardening - Lots of advice and suggestions are available online for improving your garden for wildlife (e.g. Wildlife Gardening Forum, Naturehood, Wildlife Trusts). You can also buy native plants online (e.g. Plantwild)

Connect with others on social media - There are lots of active wildlife chat groups on Facebook, including the SEWBReC group and Gwent Wildlife Spotting. Share your sightings and ask for identification advice.