Have you ever paused on a walk through the park and wondered what that tiny creature was, dancing around the wildflowers in the Arboretum? Or spotted a butterfly you couldn’t quite name? Well, the good news is that it’s super easy to find out exactly what it is, and you can also help make a real difference by recording what you see.

Wildlife and insect spotting is a wonderfully simple pleasure that asks very little of you. You don’t need expensive kit or any specialist knowledge. All you need is your smartphone and a free app like iRecord, which lets you log your sightings and contribute them to a national database of recordings. There are also brilliant identification apps such as iNaturalist and Seek, which can actually identify species from a photo in seconds. Point, snap, and discover – it really is that simple.

Jubilee Park is a surprisingly rich hunting ground, as are the woods, the lanes around the vlillage and even the planters and beds within the village itself. From hoverflies hovering lazily over the borders to bees working their way through whatever’s in bloom, there’s far more going on than you might expect. Dragonflies, beetles, moths, and all manner of creepy-crawlies are out there waiting to be found – you just need to slow down and look.

And that’s one of the loveliest things about this hobby: it naturally encourages you to slow down. In a world that rarely stops, spending ten minutes crouching beside a flower bed, watching a bee do its thing, is a genuinely calming experience. It’s mindfulness in its most natural form — no app subscription required. For a few minutes, the to-do list melts away and you’re just here, actually noticing the beauty of what’s right in front of you.

It’s also absolutely brilliant fun for families, especially during the school holidays. Children take to it instantly – give a child a mission to find and photograph five different insects and you’ll see pure, focused joy. It sparks curiosity and turns an ordinary park visit into a mini adventure.

To help you get started, we’ve put together a free downloadable guide packed with tips on the best times of day to spot insects (hint: warm sunny mornings are gold), the most productive spots, and advice on how to take great identification photos. You can find the download link below.

Finally, here’s another brilliant reason to get involved. Woodhall Spa is entering the Britain in Bloom competition this year, and one of the key areas judges look at is biodiversity. The more evidence we can gather of wildlife thriving here — insects, pollinators, and other species — the stronger our entry will be. Every sighting you record through iRecord or another app contributes to that picture. So your afternoon in the park could actually help bring home a prize for the whole community.

So go on — grab your phone, download an app, and see what you can find. You might be surprised by just how much is out there.