Recording your finds is at the heart of Field Mycologist UK. Every observation adds to a growing picture of where fungi grow across the UK, and eligible records are shared with the NBN Atlas. This guide walks through adding an observation on the website. For the app, see Recording Observations in the App.
What You’ll Need
- An account: you need to be logged in to record.
- At least one photo: photos are what the community uses to check identifications.
- Where and when you found it: these are often filled in for you from your photos.
Starting a New Observation
Click the green Add new observation button at the top of any page. The observation form opens.
Identifying the Fungus
In What fungus did you see?, start typing a scientific name, genus or common English name (for example “Amanita muscaria” or “Fly Agaric”) and pick the match from the list.
- Have a go: your best guess is fine. The community can help put it right.
- Not sure of the species? Choose a genus-level ID instead. See Understanding Genus-Level ID.
- Not in the list? Type the full scientific name. You’ll see New fungus: will be created when you submit, and the name is added for review. See Submitting a New Species.
- Using an older name? If you enter a synonym, your observation is automatically recorded under the name currently accepted by the NBN Atlas.
Tip: Our Getting Started in Field Mycology guide can help you narrow things down. The more you practise, the quicker you’ll improve.
Adding Photos
Drag your photos onto the upload area or click to choose files. You can add 1 to 7 photos, up to 5MB each, in JPG, PNG or WebP format. The first photo becomes the main image.
When you add photos, Field Mycologist reads the information your camera stored in them (EXIF data):
- Location: taken from the GPS in your first photo, if it has any. The map moves to the spot and fills in the address and vice county.
- Date and time: when the photo was taken.
If you’ve already placed a pin on the map, your pin is kept and the photo location is ignored. Always check a location filled in from a photo before submitting, as it may be somewhere you’d rather not share, such as your home.
See Observation Image Requirements for photo tips.
Date
Check the Date field. It’s filled in from your photos where possible, and you can record finds from any past date.
Location
Click the map to drop a pin where you found the fungus, then drag it to fine-tune. The address, coordinates and vice county update automatically. You can also add a what3words address.
Choose Location Privacy for this observation. It’s set to your default unless you change it:
- Open: shows the exact location.
- Obscured: shows an approximate location a few kilometres away.
- Private: hides the location completely.
Some legally protected species are automatically given a stricter setting. See Setting Your Location and Understanding Geoprivacy.
Habitat, Substrate and Associates
These optional details make your record more useful and help others check your ID:
- Habitat: for example broadleaved woodland, unimproved grassland, heathland, sand dunes or garden.
- Substrate: what it was growing on, for example soil, leaf litter, dead wood (deciduous or conifer), living wood, dung, moss or another fungus.
- Associates: the trees it was growing near or on, such as oak, birch, beech or pine. You can pick more than one.
Notes
Use Notes for anything the photos can’t show, such as smell, taste, spore print colour, flesh that changes colour when cut, size and how many were growing.
How Sure of ID Are You?
Choose Certain, Likely or Possible. Being honest here helps identifiers know which observations need the most attention.
Submitting
Click Submit observation. You’ll see Observation Submitted! and can go straight to your new observation.
What Happens Next
New observations start as Unconfirmed. Other members can agree with your ID, suggest a different one or leave a comment, and you’ll be emailed according to your notification settings. Your observation becomes Confirmed when its ID is clearly ahead of every other ID, because enough members agree with it or an Identifier does. See How the ID System Works.
You can edit your observation at any time. See Editing Your Observations.