Earthworm Sampling Day

The Biological Recording Company is running an Earthworm Sampling Day at South Park and Hurlingham Park on Thursday 12 November, from 10:30 am to 4:00 pm. It's a citizen science day, which is a fancy way of saying they're inviting anyone with an interest in nature to spend the morning and afternoon out in the parks, searching for and collecting earthworm specimens. No previous experience is needed, and the day is aimed at adults only.

You'll be working across two neighbouring parks in West London. South Park is a 7.9-hectare space with a wildlife pond, mature hedges, trees and a community wildflower area. About 200 metres to the west is Hurlingham Park, which has sports fields and wild edges kept with long grass and deadwood loggeries. The two sites offer quite different microhabitats, and that's exactly what you'll be exploring: you'll spend the day moving between them, hand-sorting soil samples to see what's living underneath.

Once the specimens are collected, the real work happens behind the scenes. Trained earthworm recorders identify what's been found, and the records go into iRecord and the National Earthworm Recording Scheme. They're also shared with the site managers and the Local Environmental Record Centre, so the day helps build a proper species list for both parks. It's a chance to do some actual field work that ends up in a national database rather than just a one-off activity.

The day runs from 10:30 am to 4:00 pm at South Park and Hurlingham Park, London SW6 3EB, in the borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. It's free to take part, though booking is essential via The Biological Recording Company's Eventbrite page.