  The heart of our activities is recording wildlife in Hertfordshire and how wildlife is responding to the changing environment over time. Therefore we need information and we shall be pleased to receive records of your wildlife observations.
Submitting records is easy – just go to the records submission page and enter your records on line – in general we need just six pieces of information:
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What:
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The species
The nature of the observation
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Where:
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A description of the location
An appropriate grid reference
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When:
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The date
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Who:
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The name(s) of the observer(s)
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When and Who
The 'When' and the 'Who' are straightforward enough, being the date of the observation, and who saw it. If you can't remember the exact date, then the month, season or even just the year are useful.
What
The 'What' has two elements to it and can vary quite a bit because wildlife is so diverse.
 Firstly there is the species’ name. Identification may be tricky, especially when first setting out, but with thousands of species in the county even lifelong naturalists can’t identify them all, so don’t be afraid to ask for help. Take a picture if you can, or possibly provide a sample, or simply describe what you saw. Careful observations can often lead to identification. Also don’t be embarrassed to report common species – if they aren’t reported then the records won’t show them to be common!
The second part of the 'What' is a vague thing that we might call 'the nature of the observation'. This gives extra information about what was seen and will vary between species groups. For example, for birds, say how many. For a Badger it might say that it was a live animal or a road-kill, a sett, tracks, a latrine or fur.  For a butterfly it might be the quantity seen of an adult, egg, caterpillar or chrysalis, a mating pair or egg-laying (and on what). And so on for other wildlife groups. Each County Recorder will be glad to let you know what information is relevant for their group.
Where
The 'Where' also has two elements to it; the location description and a grid reference. The location of your record is important as we need to know where something is in order to protect it.
Many well known sites in Hertfordshire and their grid references are listed, these will be fine for birds, mammals and dragonflies seen at these locations. For other groups such as plants and moths a more precise description of the location is needed for example at Sherrardspark Wood, 'within the wood', or 'in the grassland outside the wood' together with the six figure grid reference, use your GPS if you have one.
This method works well for common species. If something more notable is encountered then the location should be described more precisely and a 100m or 10m grid reference provided (possibly using a GPS unit) to allow the location to be re-found in the future. County Recorders can advise on what they consider notable for their group.
Just these six things
And that’s about it really. By providing these six things our records can be used to map species distributions, to detect changes of distribution, abundance or seasons, help with understanding the ecology of species and with the conservation of Hertfordshire’s wildlife. With so much development destined for the county it is important to feed in our records so that informed decisions can be made.
Submitting records
So, where should records be sent, and in what format?
The Hertfordshire County Recorders have been appointed to collate records for their specialist groups and will be pleased to receive your records and discuss your observations. The full list of Recorders and their contact details are on the Contacts page. Just contact the one(s) that seem appropriate and they will be able to advise you.
Records for birds,and mammals, ampthibians, reptiles and dragonflies can be submitted direct to the recorder through this website. Otherwise download the appropriate form from the website and email or post your records to the appropriate recorder. Whilst our Recorders are happy to accept records in many formats, by entering your sightings using either the on-line forms or the spreadsheet/word documents you can greatly assist them to enter your observations into our databases. Quite a few have provided standard forms or spreadsheets for their species that can be downloaded from the section, and they can provide paper copies on request.
Help with identifying specimens
Most county recorders will be happy to help you identify species if you send them a photograph or specimen.
When sending specimens to County Recorders for identification please check and pay the correct postage. Any envelope or package that is more than ‘wafer thin’ (ie 5mm) constitutes a ‘large letter’ and needs a ‘large first class’ stamp at 66p or ‘large second class’ stamp at 51p. Larger packages will of course cost more but even the smallest specimen tube is too thick to qualify for ordinary small letter postage rate.
Underpaid postage incurs a £1 handling charge in addition to the excess postage and has to be collected from the nearest sorting office. Last year Alan Outen had to make 31 trips to Shefford to collect underpaid packages of fungi etc from all over Britain and this was at a cost of £34.10 just for the excess postage.
Give it a go!
For some groups and uncommon species, additional information about your record may be valuable and should be considered:
- Habitat (preferably using a standard format, but if not, being as precise as possible. Some subjects need a micro-habitat)
- Number seen (a count)
- Sex or life stage (e.g. immature females)
- Behavioural notes (e.g. breeding proof)
- Associated species.
 For more uncommon or unusual species the recorder may need additional evidence to support your observation. For example the Bird Recorder has a list of rare birds, and records of these species need to be supported by a description of the bird and the circumstance in which it was seen.
There may be other categories of information for highly specialised recording, which the Recorder will provide details of. If in doubt, always ask.
The Society collates all records in electronic databases and the information made available for specific studies, analysis and to support conservation work. Where appropriate, records are shared with the Hertfordshire Biological Records Centre at the Hertfordshire County Council.
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Submit your bird records on-line through the 
Submit your moth records to the