Keeping Journals and Records

[m_galathea]

Does anyone keep a journal or series of records of their sightings? I have just finished writing up five years of sightings to mine

Here are a few excerpts; please share your own work on this thread...

Alexander

[Dave McCormick]

Hi,

Thats a great way of recording your finds, I want to do something like that. When I go out, I record the area I am in, the date amd I got there, the weather and get a few photos of the area I am in. I also mark the time of day I see things and I record the plants in area (if I know what they are) I didn't add photos like you did, but I add the results on my website sightings. I should add photos as I just got a photo printer and can print my photos easily.

[Zonda]

While this is basically a good idea, logging every sighting in a journal would be next to impossible. So surely you have to be a bit selective. For many years i kept fungi records in a similar way to this, and after 17 years i started to question their worth. Rarities...yes, but a book full of Large Whites.....In the end i decided that a photographic record was good enough, and that in itself was my pleasure anyway. Habitats change all the time, anyway. What do the rest of you think? I'm certainly not knocking the practice, each to his/her own,,,whatever floats your boat.

[Pete Eeles]

I certainly like the idea of a journal - but it also sounds quite time-consuming! Although I can automatically sort my images by date, that still omits quite a lot of relevant information. I guess the closest I have to a journal is my "blog" (http://www.ukbutterflies.co.uk/phpBB2/blog.php?u=3).

Of course, the most important thing to ensure is that these records are passed to Butterfly Conservation.

Cheers,

- Pete

[m_galathea]

Thanks for your thoughts

Zonda, I am not interested in only unusual sightings, I want to make a record of the species in one area regardless of rarity. This means I can gain an idea of the ecological richness of an area, and also learn about the distribution of butterflies local to me, including the most common.

You mention one of our most common (and largest!*) species, the Large White. Studies of migratory butterflies such as this are important in understanding climate change. After all, today's common species are unfortunately likely to be the rare ones in the future - one subspecies of the Large White has already been exterminated by man.


* only 5% less wing area than a Swallowtail

Alexander

[Zonda]

I'm fine with that, and i can see your point entirely. Each to his own ambition, i say. 99.9% of all the life that ever existed on the planet is now extinct. Extinction is an aspect of life itself. One day it will be the turn of Homo sapiens.

[Dave McCormick]

Here is how I record things. I am using a A4 hardback book with lined pages on right side and blank page on left so I can stick photos there. (4x6 Photos) it does take a while to write things down, but I record things quickly on my computer and when I print the images and stck them in the book, I can look at sightings dates and map references and write more.

[Neil Hulme]

McCormick! It looks like you've been copying Galathea's work - come and sit in the front row!
Neil

[Dave McCormick]

McCormick! It looks like you've been copying Galathea's work - come and sit in the front row!
Neil

Yes sir. Well I have had this for a while now, started in May and been writing in it since then. Been using a notpepad when I am out to write what I see, copy it onto computer then write it in this book

[Zonda]

(Whisper) I've started using a notebook too.