In 2024, 152,711 records were submitted through Ireland’s Citizen Science Portal. Records were received from 8,301 individual recorders across all 32 counties, however from this 8,301 recorders there was a small band of 40, who submitted over 1,000 records.
From this group, there is an even smaller cohort that submitted over 1,000 species, yes not just 1,000 records, but over 1,000 different taxa. This is of course an incredible achievement and we thought it was would a good idea to highlight these recorders to find out how and why they do what they do!
Finally for this series of blog posts is David Craig, over 5,000 records in 2024, the most of any recorder in our network. We asked David for some background into how he got involved with recording, his main interests, best finds and what continues to keep him so involved and active in the recording community:
I’ve always had a bit of an interest in nature and the world around me, living as a child surrounded by green fields and the sea but didn’t really think about recording what I’d seen apart from trying to photograph the local birds and keeping a fishing diary.
I’ve noticed many changes in nature but because nothing was recorded, I could say where, but couldn’t say with any accuracy, when. Surely there were huge flocks of whooper swans and lapwings, but I can’t remember when they arrived and when they left. I also remember seeing my first little egret on the banks of the River Bandon in Kinsale and wondering what it was, again without records I couldn’t say when it was, now they’re pretty-well established throughout Ireland.
With the of onset of Covid-19 restrictions and having to work from home, I struck it lucky, there was a newly planted deciduous wood (approx. 15 years old) that I hadn’t visited close to my house, and I was asked through my job to help participate in a pollinator study run in association with Biodiversity Ireland. Being the end of March, and with an unusually good spell of weather I initially thought it was all going to be recording bees, wasps and butterflies as they emerged in the incoming months. Very quickly I began to see the diversity within such a small area, that was just allowed to develop naturally and thought I could get into this. I started noticing quite a few insects I just didn’t recognise on plants that I wasn’t familiar of, so getting a digital camera and photographing absolutely everything meant I could attempt to identify “new” organisms at a later date.
I noticed that a lot of this “new” wild flora and fauna, were under-recorded or had no recorded sightings, on any of the biodiversity sites, and I saw this as an opportunity to show what was out there and not just to leave it up to others. With the world then getting back to normal I was able to contrast and compare sites that I was able to visit, helping me to improve my personal knowledge and add detailed records to places I had been.
If I had been asked “What particular taxonomic group or groups that you have developed a strong interest in” a few years ago, without any hesitation I would have said probably anything to do with the marine environment, particularly marine fish. Now I seem to be drawn to hoverflies, it’s a group of insects that I knew nothing about until I started recording and I still get excited about finding them every year.
The highlights of my time recording change from year to year but probably the close encounter with a Minke Whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) does stand out even though I’d seen them before from quite a distance away. Similarly, a Rosy Woodlouse (Androniscus dentiger), just because I’d never seen one before and there were very few previous records.
