Current Wildlife Surveys

Get snout and about with the NNNS Hedgehog Survey

Hedgehogs are in trouble – but you can help us by taking part in the Norfolk Hedgehog Survey

Download and print a survey form or send an SAE to: Dr Dave Leech, The Nunnery, Thetford, IP24 2PU. Feel free to contact us at surveys@nnns.org.uk if you have any questions.

Hedgehog

Figure 1. Hedgehog Distribution 2007

The results of several national surveys suggest that the British Hedgehog population has declined by as much as 50% over the last 40 years. Their deteriorating conservation status is probably due to a combination of factors dependent on the habitats in which they live. In farmland areas, increased pesticide use and the loss of field margins may have reduced the amount of food available to them, while the destruction of hedgerows has left populations isolated, increasing the risk of local extinctions. Urban habitats are also becoming less enticing, as the overgrown, unkempt gardens and brownfield sites that once provided food and shelter are tidied up or developed.

In order to monitor the changes in their fortunes in Norfolk, we need to build up an accurate picture of where they are now. While we have historic records from 700 tetrads in the county, last year we only received records from 139 of these (see Figure 1). We urgently need to find out whether the Hedgehogs have disappeared from these sites, and whether they’ve colonised any new ones.

Help us to help the Hedgehogs by recording the location and date of any individuals you see, whether they’re live or dead. You can even record their droppings!

Norfolk Wildlife Trust NWT Coastal Wildlife Survey

Norfolk has some amazing and very special coastal wildlife. The salt marshes, sand dunes, shingle spits and sandy beaches are a very important part of wild Norfolk and with other coastal habitats support a huge diversity of wildlife. Norfolk Wildlife Trust is asking for your help in recording coastal wildlife this summer.

Have you seen any of these species in Norfolk ?

Grayling butterfly, harbour porpoise, slipper limpet, yellow horned-poppy, sea-holly

Norfolk Wildlife Trust is working in partnership with Norfolk Biodiversity Information Service to map the distribution of these five coastal animals and plants. These are all believed to be declining in the county, except the slipper limpet, a non-native species that is spreading into Norfolk waters.

When you see any of these five species add your sighting online at www.norfolkwildlifetrust.org.uk/naturalconnections/surveys or telephone 01603 598333 for survey leaflet.

The Norfolk Wildlife Trust has launched a number of recording schemes, aimed at the public, as part of its Natural Connections programme. This initiative is designed to encourage people who have little or no previous survey experience to become actively involved in collecting information about the county's wildlife through a series of simple surveys, covering both plant and animal groups. Each survey will run for a period of several months, and there will be at least two surveys running concurrently at any point during the year - to find out which surveys are running at the moment and learn how to get involved, click here.

Butterfly Conservation organised a Garden Moth Count last year. Although the count weekend is now over, surveying goes on because many of the UK's moths, such as the Garden Tiger, have undergone major declines. Butterfly Conservation want to raise public awareness and recruit more people for the on-going National Moth Recording Scheme. For more about moths and how to trap and record them, go to the web site which is packed with useful information: http://www.mothcount.brc.ac.uk