PSL clean up

Dryad's Saddle

Yesterday I had the bright idea of spring-cleaning (or should that be autumn-cleaning) my Pan-species list (PSL). If you want to find out more about this PSL madness have a look here. My PSL 'career' has been one of bursts of enthusiasm, followed by troughs of neglect, but the list has always been steadily maintained even if not actively pursued. Even before Mark Telfer launched the PSL initiative, I had already been keeping such a list (all taxa species personally recorded in the UK), and it was a pleasant surprise to find out that others were also doing so. My Top Ten listing in the first 'league' table was a false dawn as I soon started to fall down the ladder as others joined in  - many of them professional ecologists. Even now, hovering around 40th position, is not a true reflection on who has seen what in the UK, as I know of many naturalists who have recorded far more than I but who do not appear.

I do not keep an all-encompassing database of what I have recorded. My written notebooks will never become bytes in a computer. All my lists are, likewise, formed of paper and ink/pencil - checks against  printed checklists. For some orders (such as birds, plants, butterflies and moths) this is easy to keep up with, but for most of the other orders my totals are but a tiny fraction of what is on offer, so I have written down what I have seen on various bits of paper or in a number of guides. If I'm being honest these notes were strewn all over the place. It was time to consolidate this mess.

It took a whole morning. I cannot for the life of me find where my Annelid Worm list is - I know that I have seen six species, but which six? I gained a few ticks in some groups and lost a few in others. I am also slowly transferring my plant list from Stace 3 to Stace 4 which may alter the numbers as there has been much splitting and lumping going on.

It was an enjoyable exercise. To spend a bit of time looking at different orders reminds you that there is an awful lot of life out there that we normally ignore as we blindly trample the vegetation to get a better look at a bird. Even a modest back garden will supply you with a conveyor belt of delight. This summer, in an uncharacteristic burst of PSL enthusiasm, I spent an hour looking in our back garden and added several new species to the list. They may have been common, but that is beside the point.

A few autumns ago, and because of PSL mania, I spent quite a bit of time hunting for fungi. It was an eye-opener, not just because of what beauties were found but also because there was so much to learn. It soon became apparent that there was only so much a beginner could hope to achieve with accurate fungi identification. I did put me off looking. But after all this rain, the conditions must be good for a bumper fungi autumn. I might be tempted to look for them again.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Goldfinches and Lavender

Image
We have three medium-sized Lavender bushes in our back garden. Throughout the summer the flowers (which last for several months) are a magnet for insects and give off a most restful aroma. As tempting as it is to cut the dead stems in the autumn, we always leave them, as we know that during the late winter we will get visitors to feed on the seed heads... This video was taken from the kitchen window this morning. We will normally see one or two birds over a few days, but have had up to 14 at once. We never tire of watching them. Lavender is a wonderful plant to have in the garden, with year round natural history benefits. So what are you waiting for? They are readily available at a garden centre close to you right now! There is an historic association with Lavender in this part of northern Surrey and south London. Lavender fields have been harvested for many years, with one particular field close to Woodmansterne being very popular with day trippers. A significant proportion o
Read more

To tell it like it is, or not...

Image
I am grateful to Gavin Haig (Not Quite Scilly) who drew my attention to an opinion piece, penned by Matt Phelps, which appeared in the November issue of 'Birdwatch' magazine, entitled 'Positive Approach', which I have now read. In it, he suggests that there is too much negativity being posted on social media regarding the state of our birding world, which is then acting as a deterrent towards a younger generation in adopting conservation and wildlife study. He also suggests that a lot of this negativity is being generated by older birders, and that these old timers keep banging on about the 'good old days' which isn't helpful in encouraging the youth to pick up a pair of binoculars and get out into the field. Does he have a point? Now, I am undeniably an older birder, and I am also guilty of having posted, blogged, written and spoken about the slump in bird and invertebrate numbers. I also like nothing better than to revisit my notebooks and share in the hi
Read more

Time to reflect

I normally come up with the title for a post after I have written it. If I'm feeling creative it will be some sort of play on words, or if I'm not then an all-encompassing word or two will do. As for this particular post, and with a few things to discuss, I've written the title first, inspired by having just read a feature about musicians who have used the title of an album as the starting point for their creative exercise. Here goes... Firstly, blogs - yes, this very medium that I am writing in and you are reading from. - what content they derive, the reason that the content exists and what the writer should (or should not) expect from any reader that visits the blog. This was brought into sharp focus by a series of posts to be found here, at Jono Lethbridge's excellent 'Wansted Birder'.   His blogging output has recently included detailed and entertaining reports on his recent overseas trips which have received a bit of flak from certain quarters. None of us b
Read more