I have set myself a challenge this year to see 1000 species in the 1km square centred on Batch Valley, SO4595. This is something that I have thought about for a long time, spurred on by the exploits described in the 1000 for 1ksq blog.
The rules are simple, I will record all the species I find, apart from obvious escapes and introduced species (eg garden plants and pet cats). Everything has to be identified to species level to count.
I am not sure that I have completely thought this through. My identification skills are pretty basic, restricted to birds, moths, butterflies, obvious insect and few flowering plants. I have very little literature, no microscope, no particular desire to kill or dissect anything and not a huge amount of time. These skills will not improve unless I push myself though, so I am determined to give this a fair go.
The year started off pretty well. The first species I recorded was a Kingfisher along the Batch opposite the house, a quality bird to start. Not everything will be as easy to identify!
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