Our Wild Things columnist Eric Brown urges readers to compile lists of wildlife they have seen and submit them to relevant conservation organisations as well as revealing very unusual listing rules observed by one enthusiast.

LISTING isn't just the angle of a ship in trouble on stormy seas.

We all compile lists whether for our shopping, a to-do list or places to visit.

Listing also has an important role to play in nature watching. Naturalists keep lists of birds, animals and butterflies they have seen. If submitted to the right places, those lists can play an important part in exposing unusual population trends and may lead to remedial action being taken.

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Birdwatchers are probably the ace listers of all those who venture out regularly to monitor what is around in the countryside. Almost all birdwatchers will keep a life list of everything they have seen at home and abroad through the years. This is usually supplemented by a British list, a year list, a county list and a patch or favourite place list. Serious record-keepers will also have a borough list, a daily list, a garden list and a house window list. The thing about listing is that you make and apply your own rules and boundaries.

A guy I met several years ago had a novel approach. He claimed to be a bird and animal watcher and said he had seen nearly 1,000 species of each. Not only that but his lists included such exotics as hummingbirds, macaws, penguins and flamingos along with elephants, lions, gazelles, apes and kangaroos.

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When I said he must have travelled extensively to accumulate such numbers he replied that he never goes out nature watching. He said his lists are compiled from watching television programmes! He found Spring and Autumn Watch especially useful and refused to leave his armchair whenever a Sir David Attenborough nature documentary came on. Each to their own.

Those who prefer getting out and about sometimes indulge in serious competition to record the highest total in a year. Mammal watchers have the short straw as Britain is among Europe's most impoverished nations for animals but birdwatchers are treated to extra numbers in the form of regular migrants both in summer and winter. Right now redwings and fieldfares from Scandinavia and Bewick's swans from Russia are being added to many lists as they arrive to enjoy our milder winter.

Hopes are raised each year for a waxwing influx. These beautiful red, pink, yellow, black and white birds from the taiga forests of north Eurasia arrive in large flocks when the northern Europe berry crop fails. For the last few years only a few have made it here but their berry crop is down this winter and many eagerly await their arrival here. Welcome additions to any list.

Please note the birds you see and send lists to The British Trust for Ornithology or the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. Their websites will inform you how to do this.

Why not practice listing at Christmas? Jot down all the birds and animals on your Christmas cards. Children will love doing this.

Above all, please have a really merry Christmas and a happy New Year.