NEW INFORMATION FOR BIRD RECORDING IN GLOUCESTERSHIRE
Submitting bird records for Gloucestershire :
Richard
Baatsen - County Recorder
Common
Resident Species
These
are best recorded on a monthly bases; you should either report a monthly max
figure were the site is visited a number of times during the month or a dated
monthly count where the site is only visited once during the month. Please
record breeding activity, the number of singing males etc. This is recommended
for local patches and gardens feeding stations. This sort of data provides good
data on common species that observer tend to ignore and is vital when monitoring
population trends
Migrants
Places
like the Severn Estuary / River where birds move on the tide and under certain
weather conditions. Other birds many not be migrant but use the estuary as a
refuelling stop. So record the tide time and whether the birds moved off north.
There maybe little time to count a flock moving through at speed so the “Black
Art” of estimating flock size will be come in very handy. This is done by
counting a small part of the flock say 10 and then using that as a unit of
measure to estimate the rest of the flock. These estimates should be identified
by using say c100, circa 100, or 100+, you could also include a note, at least
100 or a min of 100. Reports of
birds observed on a high tide roost or feeding on the estuary that are not
migrating should include a note stating that.
Rarities
These
should first be phoned through immediately. One good reason for doing this is to
have your sighting validated by another observer. If you have a camera please
photography the bird and always take field notes.
These
records may require a description at either a County level or a BBRC description
at a national level. Description forms can be obtained from the recorder.
Survey
Records
If
you carrying out record work such as a BBS square or a WeBS count please send a
copy to the recorder as these to do not automatically get passed. Thank you.
Simple
Record
The
information contained in a simple record can be broken down into 8 pieces of
information;
Records should be sent in via E-mail but can also be received via the post too.
Submit via email to Baatsen@surfbirder.com.
You can
either use an Excel spreadsheet using points 1-to-8 as column headers, or a text
list within an E-mail see example below.
Wigeon,3500,01/01/07,31/01/07,WWT
Slimbridge,ST 40 80,RGB
Tundra
Bean Goose,1,02/04/07,,WWT Slimbridge.””,RGB,"Seen from the Holden
Tower, then flew onto the river"
Redstart,2,13/04/07,,Ashleworth
Ham,ST 32 30,RGB
Redstart,3,15/04/07,,Ashleworth
Ham,ST 32 30,RGB,2M1F possible breeding attempt
Instead of separate columns within a spreadsheet the record is divided up by commas.
The main problem with this is when you want to use a comma in your notes. You can do this however you will need to tell the computer this by wrapping the note/comment in double quote marks. See example below:
Also if you want to leave a field blank, you still have to include the commas i.e. if you do not put the grid ref in. See example below:
·
Ashleworth Ham, ,RGB
·
Ashleworth Ham,SO 28 27 ,RGB
Site
Names (location)
How
are site names created.
The
nearest village to the location say "Hawling", then the location
"Shade Barn Farm" remembering the rule about the commas if you are not
using a spreadsheet. See example below:
·
Hawling, Shade Barn Farm
·
"Hawling, Shade Barn
Farm"
(correct)
It
is important that you do not
use names that do not appear on
the OS maps 1:50000 or OS 1:25000. Pubs change their names and factories close
down and street names are hard to find. There is a list of site names available
on request.
Grid
ref
Grid
refs are extremely important and very useful. We are use a 1 km square scale so
you need to know where you are. Large sites that cover a number of 1 km squares
like Cleeve Hill have been broken down into several 1 km squares / sub-sites.
Cleeve Common
Cleeve Hill, Washpool
Cleeve Hill, Warden’s Wood
Cleeve Hill, West Down
Cleeve Hill (Golf Club)
Cleeve Hill Radio Masts
Cleeve Hill, Wontley Farm
Cleeve Cloud
Cleeve Hill, Postlip Warren
Your
Garden Records
When
quoting a record from your garden, please do not quote 53 Sunnyside Gardens,
Please
quote the location as say Gloucester, Tuffley and then use the comments field to
expand on any details like on garden feeder etc.
Long
Staying birds or monthly counts and dates
The two dates
in the record are first and last date. So a long stay Great Northern Diver which
stayed from the 13/01/07 and remained until 03/03/07. Example:
These
dates can also be used for monthly max figs for common residents. Example:
Observer
Initial
I am going to
use initials but please quote your full name on your E-mail. If you have middle
initials please use them, as this reduces the chance of two observers sharing
the same initials. Some observers who do share initials may need to use an
extended form of their initials (e.g. "SGi") or risk having their
records allocated to the wrong person!
Techie
Stuff
If
you are a bit of a techie and use either MapMate, Recorder and a bespoke MS
Access
The
full records submission interface spec is available on request.
Also
there is some Computer software system available if you have a PC with "MS
Access"
It’s
easy to use and automatically produces any number of lists; county, BOU life
list, UK400 life, year lists etc. Most importantly it logs your records
submissions and creates record submissions at a push of a button. Please contact
the recorder if you are interested.
Records By
Post
Use the same 1-to-8 pieces of information
Phone me on
01452 740161 for the postal address.
Good Birding - Richard Baatsen County Recorder.