Growing up in rural, coastal Scotland, as a kid I was surrounded by nature, which led to a lifelong love of wildlife. However, I only seriously started birding (and listing!) in 1994 during a period of post-graduation unemployment when I needed something better to do than watch TV and read job rejection letters!
I still consider myself to be primarily a birder. However, during the lockdown in 2020, I started trying to identify everything I could find in my garden, and so fell into pan-fauna listing (I don't really "do" plants and fungi, only taking note of ones that catch my eye), with spiders and leafmines now being particular newfound loves.
Initially, my birding efforts were centred around Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Oxfordshire. Now living in Merseyside, my routine wildlife-hunting is mostly in Lancashire and Cheshire. It can be quite casual in nature, many species being found by chance, rather than by design.
I enjoy travel, both within the UK and abroad, and have always tried to find opportunities to look for wildlife when travelling, even on family holidays and business trips. My ambition is to visit Costa Rica, New Zealand and Antarctica.
Most wanted species Lesser Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos minor)
Dark-edged Bee-fly (Bombylius major)
Purseweb Spider (Atypus affinis)
North-west London based. Birding in Southern England within 3hrs max of M25 predominantly apart from May 2005 on Mull. Lists are from 2004 Summer to present since starting up.
Keen in particular on Dungeness and Kent in general. Year lists summarised since 2014 in detail. Highest number so far in one year is Britain BOU : 201. Time, inclination and cost of petrol may see this figure go up or down !
With a lifelong passion for all kinds of wildlife I love the encouragement that PSL and its community give me to keep learning and exploring, but grounded in local recording, particularly my role as a voluntary wildlife surveyor for the Greensand Trust. I also value the continuing opportunities to engage with both young and old, inspiring others to experience and value the wildlife in their local countryside. For me the most fulfilling wildlife encounters take place within the context of community, whether that be friends from near and far, the Bucks Fungus Group, the Wildflower Society or the Bedfordshire Natural History Society. PSL is the icing on the cake!
Most wanted species Red & White Cage Fungus; Pepperpot Fungus; Barometer Earthstar; Phantom Hoverfly (Doros profuges); Pine Hoverfly (Blera fallax); Hornet Robberfly; Ghost Orchid; Orca & Humpback; Orkney Vole; Black Rat; Greater Mouse-eared Bat.
Greenkeeper and passionate about wildlife and conservation. Love Moths and birds
Most wanted species Moths
I've been birding since childhood but only started thinking about listing in 2005, including the occasional twitch within a couple of hours of home (now Surrey). Always interested in other groups such as fungi, pan-species listing has encouraged me to tackle more. I'm a land management professional and worked for the a range of NGOs and local authorities before setting up as a consultant in 2011.
Most wanted species Too many to list
started making bird notes in 2000,descovered internet in 2009,got a telescope in 2010, made a year list effort in 2011 (231),could possibly sign up to being a twitcher in near future.(didn’t happen, it’s 2023)
In the late 1950s and early 1960s I bird-watched with my father (in the picture) and never kept a single list! I took up birding again in 1987, this time in earnest. Most of my birding is done in Essex and Suffolk. My ‘world birding’ is much more restricted nowadays, but between the late 1980s and the late 2000s, I visited: continental Europe; India; SE Asia, including Borneo; Zimbabwe; Ghana; Egypt; Morocco; Trinidad & Tobago; Mexico; Costa Rica; and right across the United States of America, including Alaska. All of this was by independent travel.
Ecologist, entomologist (mainly beetles & bugs), botanist (middling). Now retired. Previously worked for the National Trust (17 yrs), Univ. Herts, Bath Spa, Univ. Lancaster.
We are a conservation charity for everyone who cares about nature in Sussex. We focus on protecting the wonderfully rich natural life that is found across our towns, countryside and coast.
By working alongside local people we create opportunities for us all to connect with nature, and for nature to thrive in even the most unlikely places. Together we can make sure that future generations living in Sussex will be able to enjoy the sense of wonder and well-being that nature offers.
I am 32 and live in Dorset, UK. I have always had a casual interest in birds but have begun taking it more seriously lately. I regularly visit my local reserves at Radipole and Lodmoor.
Primarily an arachnologist, part time birder, so obviously non-competitive! Ran the Aberystwyth Natural History Society for two academic years at uni, and that's where I got into birding. I had wanted to get into the hobby since I was a boy because of the accessibility of birds and the social side, but it was discovering the accumulation aspect that got me hooked! I currently live in Bournemouth, but go birding mostly in Hampshire.
None of my lists include species that were heard only.
Birder/Butterfly fan. Ticks only of photographed birds
I've been interested in natural history most of my life, with an increasing focus on insects once I realised that there were a lot more of those than there are birds. I have a particular interest in Hoverflies, Ladybirds and Heteroptera, and I'm the county recorder for the latter in Bedfordshire.
Most wanted species Doros profuges, Oleander Hawkmoth, Death's Head Hawkmoth
Passionate young birder, migration enthusiast, vismigger, patch watcher and Slimbridge WWT volunteer. Like to find my own birds. Twitter: @_birder1
