Discover the wildlife on your local canal this half term

Our 200 year-old waterways are home to more than 60 species of canal side creatures but British Waterways needs your help to keep them protected and help them thrive by recording sightings of the diverse species that exist. Throughout the year, people have been taking part in the survey – spotting everything from ducks to dragonflies and grass snakes to geese.

Dr Mark Robinson, British Waterways’ national ecology manager says: "Half the population lives within five miles of a British Waterways' canal or river and with the survey due to close at the end of October, the half term break is the perfect opportunity to wrap up warm, take a stroll along the towpath and look out for bugs and beasties.

"The waterways are home to a rich array of wildlife and every additional sighting helps our ecologists manage the canals and rivers to conserve their habitats by, for example, installing bat bricks, bird boxes, otter holts and soft banks for water voles."

Recording your findings is easy – simply pick up a survey form at your local waterways office or fill in an on-line wildlife survey form.

This year, British Waterways has joined forces with the British Dragonfly Society (BDS) to focus on dragonflies and damselflies. These are two of the UK’s most visually stunning insects that, in recent years, have come under threat. Dragon and damselflies are temperature-sensitive, providing a useful indicator of the impacts of climate change and data collected by the BDS shows that a third of the 39 dragonfly species in the UK are in decline.