GYCC Participants

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The Great Yorkshire Creature Count-down begins!

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Welcome to the Great Yorkshire Creature Count community. Great to have you onboard.

On Saturday 24th and Sunday 25th June, the challenge is on to count and record the creatures in your outdoor space. You can take part using either our checklist of 30 creatures or by signing up to our iNatuarlist project.

All the information you need to get started is below, including how to take part and loads of resources to help you. If you're still unsure about something, why not look at our Frequently Asked Questions?

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How to take part

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Download your checklist

To help you get started, we’ve created a checklist with 30 common (and not so common) creatures.

Download the checklist below to get started. You can print it out and tick the creatures off in real time, or use it to make notes whilst you take part.

From butterflies to beetles and frogs to finches, how many will you spot over the weekend? Better yet, team up with (or compete against!) your neighbours or friends to see just how many you can find.

Download your checklist

Once you've finished counting on the weekend, you can submit your results online.

Top tip!


Download the ‘Seek’ app to add a new dimension to your count. Simply upload a photo of the creature you want to identify and it will tell you what you’re looking at!

Download now

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Take your Count a step further

We’ve created an iNaturalist project for experts and intrepid explorers who want to delve a little deeper.

Simply download the iNaturalist app (available on Apple and Android) and join our project to get started.

When you take part iNaturalist you’ll be joining a community of other wildlife enthusiasts recording valuable data right across the globe!

Join the project on iNaturalist

New to iNaturalist? Read our user guide to help you get started.

    Great Yorkshire Churchyard Creature Count logo. Swifts flying over an illustration of a church with wildflowers.

    The Great Yorkshire Churchyard Creature Count

    Are you taking part in the Diocese of Leeds’ Great Yorkshire Church Yard Creature Count?

    Download the iNaturalist app to take part (available on Apple and Android) and join our project to get started.

    Join the project on iNaturalist

    New to iNaturalist? Get started with our user guide.

    Spot it (with binoculars icon), Count it (with checklist and phone icons), Record it (with tablet icon)

    Access your exclusive content

    To say thank you for joining the Great Yorkshire Creature Count, we're giving you exclusive access to these events and resources.

    A photograph of wildlife gardener Jack Wallington.

    Exclusive Nature Natters LIVE event

    To celebrate the return of the Great Yorkshire Creature Count, we're giving you exclusive access to a very special edition of our online talk show, Nature Natters LIVE with the popular wildlife gardener, landscape designer and author Jack Wallington.

    Watch our conversation

    A young girl wearing a colourful owl mask.

    Kids activity pack

    Download your complimentary children's activity pack and get the whole family involved in the Great Yorkshire Creature Count.

    Our exciting pack is filled with colouring sheets and crafts to help children engage with and enjoy wildlife.

    Download your pack

    A common blue butterfly perched on a blade of grass.

    Common blue (male) - Tom Hibbert

    We’re doing more for nature

    The Great Yorkshire Creature Count gives us all an excuse to head outside and discover the natural world on our doorstep. You can help us to protect the wildlife you love by donating today. Together we can help wildlife to flourish across Yorkshire.
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    What to do on the day

    Child with checklist

    (c) Fiona Llewelyn 

    Get outside and start looking

    When the Great Yorkshire Creature Count launches on Saturday 24th June, all you need to do is get outside and start looking! You can count creatures for ten minutes, an hour, a whole afternoon or even the whole weekend - it's totally up to you! 

    You can take part from anywhere (so long as it's in Yorkshire). Recline in your garden and watch the skies for swifts, search for bugs in your local park, go birdwatching in your town centre or join us on one of our nature reserves.

    Tick creatures off the checklist

    Use our checklist as a guide to tick off the 30 listed creatures. There's space for you to write any additional finds! Don't worry if you can't tick all the species off the list - it's just as interesting for us to know what you didn't find!

    Delve deeper

    Are you a wildlife aficionado that wants to delve a little deeper? Join our iNaturalist project and share your findings with people across the globe.

    Submit your results

    If you're using iNaturalist, your results will be automatically submitted to us, as long as you are part of the Great Yorkshire Creature Count project. If you're using our checklist, you can submit your results by following the link below. Our submission form will be open for up to a week after the Count!

    Submit your results

    GYCC butterfly website bottom 2

    Creatures to spot from your wild space

    Discover more
    GYCC swift bottoms

    How to identify your finds

    Download our guides
    GYCC frog bottoms

    Your wild neighbours

    Species focus

    Inspiration and ideas

    Creatures to spot from your doorstep

    Whether you have a window box or a big garden, this is wildlife you can expect to see!

    Your wild neighbours

    Facts, inspiration and advice on six common visitors to our outdoor spaces! Meet your wild neighbours...

    Child with binoculars

    Evie and Tom Photography

    Online shop

    Your one stop shop for everything wild

    From birdfeeders to wildflower seeds, binoculars and spotting guides - our online shop has everything you need to get yourself ready for The Count.

    Visit our online shop

    Frequently Asked Questions

    When do I take part in the Great Yorkshire Creature Count?

    The Count takes place on Saturday 24th June and Sunday 25th June. You can choose to count all weekend, for the afternoon or morning, overnight, or even for ten minutes while you have a cuppa! How you count is up to you.

    Where can I take part in the Great Yorkshire Creature Count?

    You can take part from wherever you'd like (so long as it's in Yorkshire). Recline in your garden and watch the skies for swifts, search for bugs in your local park, go birdwatching in your nearest town centre or even join us on one of our nature reserves.

    What is iNaturalist and how do I use it?

    iNatuarlist is an online tool that's allows people across the world to record information about wildlife. You can use it to record your own observations and even get help with indentifications. The information and data you share enables us to better understand and ultimately protect our natural world.

    Want to learn how to us iNaturalist? Follow our user guide to started.

    How do I submit my results?

    Use our online form to submit your results. It's simple to fill in and the only information (apart from your counts) that you'll need to provide is your postcode. Use the downloadable checklist as a guide or a prompt - we'd love for you to share your ticked off checklists with us on social media!.

    Submit your results

    If you're using iNaturalist, your results will be automatically submitted as long as you are part of the Great Yorkshire Creature Count project (find out more about how to join the project). There may be a delay between uploading your sightings and them appearing on iNaturalist, so don't worry if you can't see them straightaway - they have to go through a verification process.

    What's the difference between the checklist and iNaturalist?

    The checklist is designed to be easy to use and great for families and beginner Creature Counters. You can use it alongside the Seek app to identify everything you're spotting!

    We've used iNaturalist in previous years, and those who want to delve into the detail are still welcome to use it. You can join the Great Yorkshire Creature Count project and everything you submit in the time window will be counted.

    Why are we counting?

    We know that spending time in nature is great for our mental health and wellbeing, and by noticing and recording the wildlife where you live you’re helping nature too.

    There are more gardens than nature reserves in the UK and they provide crucial corridors, nesting areas and places to shelter for many of our much-loved creatures. But nature needs us. With their habitats destroyed and the pressures of the climate emergency increasing, even our once-widespread creatures such as the common frog or the garden bumblebee are declining.

    Your creature-counting really counts – it gives us important information about how many different creatures are making themselves at home and what we all can do to protect them. The data we record will showcase how wildlife-friendly our collective outdoor patches are and give us an idea of how common species are faring in Yorkshire gardens.

    Why did you pick the 30 species on the checklist?

    The checklist species are those you are most likely to see in your outside space, and those we're interested to know more about.

    We know that our gardens and yards can be vital lifelines for a much wider variety of wildlife - that's why we've included the box to allow you to record anything extra or special! 

    Get involved on social media!

    Our team will be around during the whole weekend with tips, advice and inspiration! We'll also be answering your questions, so don't hesitate to get in touch. And remember to let your friends know you're taking part and help us spread the word!

    The People's Postcode Lottery and Postcode Planet Trust logos

    Our events programme is supported by players of People’s Postcode Lottery.