As a registered charity, each year NatureSpot publishes an Annual Report, but it's also an opportunity for you to find out more about our activities over the last year. More...

You can see all the NatureSpot Annual Reports on this page and read the 2021 Annual Report here. 

In summary:

• 44,392 records were submitted in 2021, fewer than 2020 when numbers were boosted by the inclusion of historic data, but still one of our highest totals. In total, 357,229 records have now been received through NatureSpot’s online portal - a major contribution to the scientific knowledge of wildlife in our area. 
• Every record submitted to NatureSpot is individually checked by an expert and only accepted where there is satisfactory evidence to confirm the species identity. Overall, 96.7% of records in 2021 were accepted and a further 1.3% considered plausible. A benefit of NatureSpot being linked with iRecord and the BRC is that the NatureSpot records are made available to national experts who help with verification. In 2021, 3,339 (8.1%) records were verified by these national experts. The remainder were verified by local experts appointed by NatureSpot, assisted by County Recorders and other specialists.
• The number of different species recorded each year has grown steadily. In 2021, records of 3,808 different species were submitted, 240 of these were species not previously recorded on NatureSpot. 
• Moths, Birds and Butterflies are the most frequently recorded groups. Caddisflies, true flies (Diptera) and Centipedes & Millipedes the least frequently recorded - maybe you could help with that?

The big shock is that for the first time in living memory the Buzzard was not the most frequently recorded species! Even more shocking was the fact that Buzzards dropped to 13th spot in the league table. The top three spots were taken by Mute Swan, Mallard and Robins. What does 2022 hold in store? Well that partly depends on your contributions to our local wild life knowledge.