Garden Wildlife Sighting Log

Who this is for

A record of what turns up in the garden and when. Each line takes the date and time, what you saw, how many, where in the garden it was, what it was doing and what the weather was like, which is usually the column that explains the rest.

Gardeners who want to know whether the garden is getting busier or quieter, families keeping a nature record with children, and anyone taking part in a wildlife count and wanting their own copy of what they submitted.

What this helps you track

• What species turn up, in the order you saw them
• How many of each, so a pair and a flock are not the same entry
• Where in the garden — the feeder, the pond, the hedge, the compost heap
• What it was doing, which is where the interesting records come from
• The weather and time of day against each sighting

How to use it

1. Write the garden, the year and who is keeping the record at the top, with a line about the habitat — hedge, pond, lawn, trees.
2. Add a line when you see something: date, time, what it was and how many.
3. Name the species as confidently as you can and write 'probably' where you are not sure. An honest record is more use than a tidy one.
4. Say where in the garden it was and what it was doing — feeding, nesting, passing over, basking.
5. Note the weather, since it explains most of the gaps and most of the busy days.
6. Keep the sheets by year. Comparing one spring with another is the whole point of writing them down.

Formats

• Printable PDF (A4 and US Letter)
• Fillable PDF with form fields
• Fill in online, saved in your browser

The printable is laid out inside a box that fits both A4 and US Letter, so the two files are identical and neither one is scaled. The fillable PDF has real form fields. The online version keeps what you enter in your own browser and builds the completed PDF on your device.

How to print

Download the A4 or US Letter file to match the paper in your printer, open it in a PDF reader and print at 100% — not "fit to page", which shrinks the writing space. Both files leave a 14 mm margin, which clears the unprintable edge on home printers. To print the online version with your entries in it, use the Print this sheet button, which prints only the sheet and none of the page around it. More on printing.

Questions

What counts as a sighting worth writing down?

Whatever you want to keep. Some people log every bird at the feeder, others only the unusual ones. Be consistent about which, because a change in what you record looks exactly like a change in what is there.

How is this different from the bird feeder and nest box log?

That sheet is about the feeders and boxes themselves — filling them, cleaning them, whether anything moved in. This one is about the animals, wherever in the garden they are, and includes mammals, insects and amphibians.

Can I use it for a formal wildlife survey?

It is a plain record sheet, so it will hold the observations, but whatever scheme you are submitting to will have its own form and its own rules. Check theirs; this is your copy.

What if I cannot identify something?

Write what you saw — size, colour, where, what it did — and identify it later. The notes column is there for the description.