Have you seen  your first brimstone butterfly of the year yet? I caught sight of one last week, and the first thing I did was record it on iRecord, an app I have on my smartphone.    

I know this record will be looked at by the county butterfly recorder to be verified, then added to the list of butterflies recorded in Herefordshire, which then will be added to Butterfly Conservation’s database.

I have been recording flora and fauna on iRecord for several years. A couple of years ago I was in the Outer Hebrides and recorded the great yellow bumblebee, one of our rarest bumblebees. This was verified by Bumblebee Conservation.

This happens all over the country and applies to all flora and fauna. We are lucky to have a strong team of county recorders/verifiers in Herefordshire, which I have recently joined as verifier for the Mammal Society.

The iRecord website is hosted by the National Biological Centre so all your records help to build a picture of just how our wildlife is doing from year to year.

It is very easy to use!

Go to www.brc.ac.uk/irecord and sign up or download the app to your smartphone. I find the app much easier when I’m out and about as it immediately gives you a grid reference and enables you to take a photo which is always helpful for verifiers, particularly if you are not sure of the species.

So, get out there and record all the marvellous wildlife we are lucky enough to see in our county!

Sarah Cadwallader  Kington Branch HWT