WILD
BULLTOFTA
PARKEN
HOW TO SPOT WILDLIFE
Our cities are homes for many species of wildlife. Many of them can be seen very often as pigeons or rabbits. To spot another one you need to spend some time in a park or forest. We believe that regular encounters with animals can make our life better through spending more time outdoors, seeing real magic of life diversity and making friends with other nature lovers. So we decided to make a list of some advice for wildlife spotting, answered the most frequent questions and gathered recourses for further reading.
When to watch?
You are likely to spot more animals very early in the morning than during other time of the day. Many of the animals that live in cities are nocturnal. Mornings provide better lighting for watchers than real night time. Also you can easily find some evidence of wild night life before they disappeared. So don’t be lazy and go watching as early as possible. It doesn’t mean that you can’t see anyone during day time: you can almost always see someone wild and interesting in parks.
How to recognize?
Of course you don’t need any special knowledge to recognize many widespread animals in the city. But some of them can be tricky to find out who are they. You need to browse some wildlife catalogue, be very patient and attentive to every details. Sometimes it can be a good idea to ask for a help of other nature lovers. Also there are plenty of books and apps that can give you support. For example, bird watchers can find helpful Fågelguiden app or Merlin Bird Photo ID website that is focused on the North American birds but is still valuable for Europeans too. British “People’s Trust for Endangered Species” published interesting guide for urban wildlife spotting with tips for different species.
Where to watch?
You don’t need to travel far to watch wildlife: many species of animals live just nearby in built-up environment, sometimes even sharing our homes with us. The best habitats for birds and mammals in cities are gardens, urban parks, former industrial or commercial areas, cemeteries, golf courses, allotment gardens, banks of rivers and canals. We are sure that some of these places are just around the corner.
What do I need for animals watching?
One of the best things about animal watching is that you don’t need any special equipment for it. Just wear comfortable and suitable for the season clothes and shoes that don’t make a lot of noise when you move. Don’t use strong perfume and leave your dog at home. If you want to spot wildlife when it’s still dark, you can use red light to see what’s going on around you as many animals can’t see in it and wouldn’t be afraid. You may also need a pad or something similar to sit on while waiting. Also always bear in mind your own safety and safety of people and nature around you.
How to take photos or videos?
For most of us just watching of wildlife is not enough: we want to document our findings and share these photos and videos with our friends and other nature lovers. These photos and videos are also valuable recourse of information for researchers, scientists and city planners. Our initiative is designed to collect photos of your encounter with wildlife through crowd knowledge campaign and analyze them for better environment both for people and animals. You don’t need expensive and professional cameras for the best shots: you can use your own smartphones. One interesting technique is called “digiscoping”: using a camera or together with an optical telescope and special adapter. It is well suited for record of distant images and especially birds. It is also important not to forget about other details that can’t be recorded just by a camera: sounds, weather, smells, tracks of animals. You can make notes while watching and use pencil and notebook (graph papers suits better for outdoor activity). On the homepage of our project you will find special form to upload your photos and get involved.
What species of animals can I watch in Bulltoftaparken?
Bulltoftaparken is the largest park in Malmö and essential habitat for urban wildlife. Normally you can see the most widespread local mammals there: rabbits, hares, hedgehogs, squirrels, moles, mice, bats and even foxes. These mammals adapted quite well to urban environment and are not so frightened by people’s activities. At the same time you need to be careful while watching them as Bulltoftaparken is partly remote place and, for example, rabbits are more sensitive here to what people do comparing to city centre. The park is also good for bird watchers as many species use the park both for nesting and just stopping on their way. The ornithologists say that among many birds that are common for Malmö in Bulltoftaparken you can spot crossbill and white-throated dipper.
What species of animals can I watch in Bulltoftaparken?
Bulltoftaparken is the largest park in Malmö and essential habitat for urban wildlife. Normally you can see the most widespread local mammals there: rabbits, hares, hedgehogs, squirrels, moles, mice, bats and even foxes. These mammals adapted quite well to urban environment and are not so frightened by people’s activities. At the same time you need to be careful while watching them as Bulltoftaparken is partly remote place and, for example, rabbits are more sensitive here to what people do comparing to city centre. The park is also good for bird watchers as many species use the park both for nesting and just stopping on their way. The ornithologists say that among many birds that are common for Malmö in Bulltoftaparken you can spot crossbill and white-throated dipper.
What are the best spots for wildlife watching in Bulltoftaparken?
We believe that exploration of the park and finding the best spots can be very interesting part of wildlife watching activity. The park landscape is very diverse with forest, hills and meadows. We can recommend you to start with banks of Riseberga stream in the central part of the park that attracts animals. Also be aware that north-eastern part of the park is more nature-like than the south-western that is used for various sports activities. So it should be a nice idea to go away from the crowded lawns and try to spot animals close to their natural habitat.
What can I watch about wildlife watching?
There are plenty of documentaries and books about urban wildlife and animals watching. One of the most popular film related to the topic is a comedy “The Big Year” (2011) about a competition among bird watchers. Our everyday encounters with animals around us are filmed in “Pica Pica” (1987) by Mikael Kristersson who showed magpies near Stockholm. To understand better how to make cities better places for wildlife you can watch “The Nature of Cities” (2010) documentary made by Timothy Beatley.
I can see only rabbits. What am I doing wrong?
Wildlife watching can be tough sometimes as animals’ schedule is a little bit different from our own. So that’s why we recommend to spot birds and mammals early in the morning. Also consider the season (you need to be very careful during nesting period) or activities around. Anyway you need just time to find wildlife close to your favorite spot in the park. So prepare to be patient and you will be rewarded. If you are interested in bird watching you can join ornithologists clubs and try to watch birds together with more advanced bird lovers.
From observations to citizen science
Check citizens' science contributions to nature conservation and research on artportalen.se, an Internet-based, freely accessible reporting system and data repository for species observations.