Spotter’s Guide
Use these spotter’s sheets as an introduction to natural history groups. They each show a small selection of things that occur in the natural world to help you to get started. If you need more help, get in touch with our museum scientists.
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Spotter's Sheets
Garden Pond Snails in Wales
Are there snails living in your wildlife pond? Why not go out and check for yourself using this guide to garden pond snails in Wales.
Download Spotter’s Sheet (PDF)
Building Stones of National Museum Cardiff
Did you know the Museum was built from igneous rock and sedimentary rock? Granite and a limestone that contains fossils. Use this guide to tour the museum and identify some of the building stones used.
Download Spotter’s Sheet (PDF)
Have I found a fossil?
Fossil hunting is a fun outdoor activity that can be carried out by all the family. This guide shows you how to find fossils in rocks and how to recognise other rock markings.
Download Spotter’s Sheet (PDF)
Penarth fossils
Use this guide to start hunting for fossils along Penarth beach in south Wales, and learn about the geological background of the colourful cliffs.
Download Spotter’s Sheet (PDF)
Guide to Fossil Groups
Would you like to learn about the different types of fossils? Use this guide to learn more about fossils and to help you separate your fossil finds into the most common groups.
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Guide to Fossil Groups
Fossils can be formed when a plant or animal is buried for millions of years and becomes replaced by minerals. Use this guide to find out more about each type of animal: when it lived, what it ate, and which major group (or Phylum) it belonged to.
Download Spotter’s Sheet (PDF)
Ocean Plastics and Animal Hitchhikers
When ocean plastic waste is washed up on our beaches it may sometimes have animals attached to it, but not all of them are native to the UK. Use this guide to see if any of the animals you can find on beach plastics have crossed the Atlantic to visit Wales!
Download Spotter’s Sheet (PDF)
Ocean Plastics and Animal Hitchhikers
When ocean plastic waste is washed up on our beaches it may sometimes have animals attached to it, but not all of them are native to the UK. Use this guide to see if any of the animals you can find on beach plastics have crossed the Atlantic to visit Wales!
Download Spotter’s Sheet (PDF)
Spotting Seaweeds in Wales – brown seaweeds
Seaweed spotting can be a fun outdoor activity for all the family. Brown seaweeds make up over a quarter of the Welsh species – use this guide to find out where to look for them, the most common types and which one is used to make seaweed fertiliser!
Download Spotter’s Sheet (PDF)
Spotting Seaweeds in Wales – reds and greens
Seaweed spotting can be a fun outdoor activity for all the family. Reds and greens make up most of the 450 different kinds in Wales – use this guide to find out where to look for them, the most common types and which seaweeds are edible as crisps, seasoning and laverbread!
Download Spotter’s Sheet (PDF)
Common Seashells
Some of the more common seashells in Wales are shown in this sheet. Have you seen any of these shells on the beach near where you live? Seashells come in all shapes, sizes and colours. But what are shells? Shells are created by the animals that live inside them, the soft-bodied molluscs.
Download Spotter’s Sheet (PDF)
Treasures of the Strandline
The beach strandline is where animals and seaweeds are washed up and left behind by the tide. On your next wildlife walk, you never know what you might find! Look closely next time you visit the beach in Wales and use this spotter’s sheet.
Download Spotter’s Sheet (PDF)
Sort it Out! Stripy Snails
Identifying stripy snails can be a puzzle. Their patterns vary, and their shapes change as they grow. Finding more shells makes sorting easier. Make it your next wildlife project to work out which snail is which!
Download Spotter’s Sheet (PDF)
Common Garden Birds
Which of these common garden visitors can you spot in your garden or local green space in Wales? Birds are some of our most well-loved urban wildlife. Look out for their different colours and sizes; listen out for their songs and calls.
Download Spotter’s Sheet (PDF)
Ogmore Fossils
A photo guide to the common fossils on the beach at Ogmore-by-Sea in south Wales. They tell a story of tropical seas, desert storms, and sea-level rise in south Wales from 350 to 200 million years ago.
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Deciduous trees and shrubs in Wales
Guide to trees and shrubs with oval or rounded leaves that lose their leaves in winter. Try looking for them when walking in Wales, in the countryside, in parks, and in the city.
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Have I Found a Moss?
Moss grows on rocks, trees, pavements and walls. Moss can be found living alongside liverworts and lichens which can look similar. Use this guide to help you work out if you’ve found a moss.
Download Spotter’s Sheet (PDF)
Welsh Coastal Birds
The coasts of Wales are one of the best places to spot birds, from beaches to cliff tops, to secluded islands and the open sea. Get your binoculars and let’s get spotting!
Download Spotter’s Sheet (PDF)
Hawk-moths in Wales
Large and striking moths! Look for them at dusk or try creating your own moth trap. Spot Humming-bird Hawks collecting nectar during the day.
Download Spotter’s Sheet (PDF)
West Angle fossils
The rocks of West Angle Bay, South Pembrokeshire, were formed around 350 million years ago in shallow, stormy, tropical seas.
Download Spotter’s Sheet (PDF)
St Davids area Geology
The colourful rocks around St Davids are some of the oldest in Wales. Dating from 650–460 million years old, they were formed in cold oceans and show evidence of volcanoes, and fossils of extinct animals.
Download Spotter’s Sheet (PDF)
Building Stones of St Davids, Pembrokeshire
Many historic buildings and houses in St Davids contain a variety of building stone; many are sourced locally, but some come from further afield. Building stones are a great way to study geology in the urban environment. Here is a selection of local stones you can spot!
Download Spotter’s Sheet (PDF)
Southerndown fossils
The rocks at Southerndown, Vale of Glamorgan, are some of the youngest in Wales and were laid down in warm Jurassic seas.
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Welsh plant fossils
315-300 million years ago Wales was covered in dense forests and swamps. Giant clubmosses and ferns grew as tall as trees. Their fossils can be found in the Upper Carboniferous rocks of the south Wales valleys and parts of north Wales.
Download Spotter’s Sheet (PDF)
Our Urban Meadow Flowers 1
We have many plants on our Urban Meadow at National Museum Cardiff. Here are five plants which frequently flower in the summer. You can find them in gardens, on roadside verges and by hedges too. They are native, which means they came here a long time ago without the help of people. Find them but don’t pick them, and leave them for pollinators to visit.
Download Spotter’s Sheet (PDF)
Our Urban Meadow Flowers 2
We have many plants on our Urban Meadow at National Museum Cardiff. Here are five plants which frequently flower in the summer. You can find them in gardens, on roadside verges and by hedges too. They are native, which means they came here a long time ago without the help of people. Find them but don’t pick them, and leave them for pollinators to visit.
Download Spotter’s Sheet (PDF)
Ordovician Trilobites of Mid Wales 1
Trilobites are an extinct group of arthropods, which lived in the seas between about 520 and 250 million years ago. They were one of the most diverse animal groups, and formed an important part of early marine ecosystems. Their hard exoskeletons are often found as fossils.
Download Spotter’s Sheet (PDF)
Ordovician Trilobites of Mid Wales 2
Trilobites are an extinct group of arthropods, which lived in the seas between about 520 and 250 million years ago. They were one of the most diverse animal groups, and formed an important part of early marine ecosystems. Their hard exoskeletons are often found as fossils.
Download Spotter’s Sheet (PDF)
Mosses for starters
Mosses often seem very similar until you look closely. These are five common mosses, from different habitats, with distinctive features to help identification. Why not try to spot some at St Fagans National Museum of History?
Download Spotter’s Sheet (PDF)