HERC Database tops 4 million records!

Record No. 4,000,000: Parrot Waxcap Gliophorus psitticinus © Barry Wenham, some rights reserved (CC-BY)

This month HERC reached the incredible milestone of 4 million records of verified species observations on our database!

From around 350 000 computerised records in 2013 when HERC transferred from Herts County Council to the Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust, this represents an average of 290 000 records processed per year. Each record verified by a recognised authority, checked for its positional accuracy and linked with the site it was observed from (where possible).

It is a truly remarkable endeavour and reflection on the commitment not only of our small team of staff, but of the many enthusiasts across the county past and present who have devoted time and energy in the pursuit of knowledge of the wildlife of this county. Biological recording in the UK is, I think, the longest continuously running and most successful citizen science project anywhere in the world.

Our 4 millionth record was for Parrot Waxcap, Gliophorus psittacinus, from a churchyard in Watford for which we otherwise hold no habitat data. It was submitted with photos to iNaturalist, where at least two people agreed on the identification. From there it was brought into iRecord and verified by a recognised national expert. We downloaded it onto our database from iRecord and now it’s available to a wider array of users in the county and can inform habitat mapping, future Local Nature Recovery Strategy mapping, development control and site management. It’s a good record. The presence of waxcap assemblages in grassland is a strong indicator of old habitat with a well developed soil biome and biodiversity. These grasslands are important, but traditional botanical methods of habitat classification may not pick them up. Records of waxcaps provide valuable insight into where these old grasslands are.

For people who might be interested in looking for waxcaps, the verifier of this particular record, Steve Hindle, has recently created an ID Guide app. Potential observers can study up over the summer ready for waxcap season in autumn. Records can be submitted to iRecord.