Three years ago, I began a project to document one new species per day until I reached 1000 species. I imposed a couple of simple rules: the species had to be seen in Britain (most are seen within walking distance of my house), and they are documented with a photograph taken on the day of posting.
This was going well until Covid appeared when the world really did change and the imposition of ‘lockdown’ meant the project stopped. Now that the impact of Covid has lessened markedly in Britain, I am re-starting the project.
The reason for undertaking this project is simple – to extend my knowledge and appreciation of british natural history. The re-run commenced two weeks ago (so I am now up to 14 species), and I have already become more familiar with a couple of plant species, one being the common cow-wheat illustrated here.
Any species of wild animal, plant or fungus can be included. Documenting each day highlights the seasonality of our wildlife. Now, in the flush of summer, flowers and insects are abundant whereas in the depths of winter they are less ‘available’ whereas fungi and birds can be more accessible. Each day the species will be posted on my Facebook page and I aim to give a weekly summary here.
Here’s to the next 986 species.
Wildlife of North Wirral 