Join like-minded people with an interest in field recording for a day of identifying and surveying in an informal environment. Naturalists of all levels (from beginner to expert) will be able to share their knowledge with peers and help each other improve knowledge and build confidence in biological recording.

Join us at Dowles Brook in Bewdley for a day of sampling freshwater invertebrates. We will be carrying out kick sampling at several locations to collect specimens and identity them to species level with the help of our expert tutor. These species records will help us create valuable records for Dowles Brook.

Kick sampling is a standard method used for sampling river invertebrates. It involves disturbing the material on the bed of a river or stream and collecting invertebrates dislodged in the process. A standard kick sample is 3 minutes in duration, with an additional 1 minute of stone-washing. As different invertebrates will be found in different habitats, it is important to sample all habitat types during a sample, for example shallow edges, marginal vegetation, fast-moving riffles. Once a sample has been collected it requires hand sorting to remove any invertebrate specimens for collection and identification.

All records collected will be added to iRecord in order to share our findings with the site managers, Local Environmental Record Centre and relevant national recoreding schemes and societies.

Find out more here