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MANCHESTER BIRDING BIRD RECORDING |
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CONTACT DETAILS FOR ALL RECORDS AND QUERIES, INCLUDING COUNTY AND NATIONAL RARITIES:
Ian McKerchar
42 Green Avenue,
Astley,
Greater Manchester
M29 7EH
Telephone: 01942 701758 or 07958 678481
Email: ianmckerchar1@gmail.com
TO SUBMIT YOUR ANNUAL COUNTY BIRD RECORDS
YOUR BIRD RECORDS ARE INCREDIBLY VALUABLE TO US!
We (the Greater Manchester Bird Recording Group), urge all observers in the county to submit their records to us on a monthly or annual basis. Your records will not only then go into the county's definitive bird records database and be utilised in the annual county bird report (where you will rightly be acknowledged for your contribution) but perhaps more importantly they will be used in important conservation issues throughout the county.
When considering exactly what species or indeed flock counts you should send, it is advisable to check on the 'records required' column on the systematic list here. This easily allows you to send us those records we really need.
There are three main methods of submitting your records to us:
1. MapMate recording software. This is the GMBRG's preferred method of submission.
The recent invitation (here) extended to Greater Manchester birders to join the Greater Manchester Bird Recording Group (hereafter referred to as GMBRG) stated that one of the key aims of the group is to increase the submission of bird records from observers within the county. Your records are incredibly valuable to us and as such we are pleased to announce that members will be eligible to purchase a copy of MapMate biological recording software at a special discounted price of £25.00 (this is on the assumption that a minimum of 10 people wish to take up the offer, normal price £32).
MapMate has many advantages for both the individual birder and the GMBRG and we see it as a major step forward in making the recording and submission of bird records more efficient for county birders. Your records are essential to us for many reasons but none more so than the protection of county sites and bird species for which they are continuously being used. Sightings placed on the Manchester Birding forum are not utilized in any formal recording capacity and we would dearly like to see those users of the forum not already actively involved in submitting their records start to do so and see MapMate as an easy and enjoyable option for all birders regardless of experience or ability. Similarly, those birders who already submit their records via previous methods should find MapMate a very advantageous and exciting product indeed.
It is important to point out at this stage that all other previous methods of record submission will continue to be accepted and that MapMate is an option, not an essential requirement.
The benefits of MapMate recording software are:
1. It is relatively easy to set up and use and a special free of charge training session will be run for GMBRG members. Ongoing technical support will be offered via the Manchester Birding forum, offering direct access to experienced users of the software. You certainly don’t have to be an IT wizard to use it.
2. It allows you to create your own personal database of records which you will be able to refer to for years to come and see the changes taking place in your local bird populations. So the next time you want to find out your earliest date for Swallow, or your largest flock of Fieldfare, the answers will be accessible with a few clicks of the mouse.
3. All users will be supplied with a complete set of their personal records currently held in the GMBRG database. For some people this could run into hundreds of records. You’ll be able to see which important records are currently missing and add these in yourself.
4. All the major sites in Greater Manchester, plus a detailed list of sites for your borough, will be supplied on a file by the GMBRG, so there will be no need to spend time setting up sites.
5. Standard queries within the software will allow you to generate a life list, or year list, for a site, borough, or the county.
6. If you birdwatch regularly at a particular site you will be able to exchange your records with other birders who watch the same site and are also using MapMate. So you will all have access to the site records. You could even volunteer to enter other birders’ records for them, so ensuring the site records are as comprehensive as possible.
7. MapMate covers the whole of the UK so wherever you go birding you’ll be able to enter your records and generate your lists.
8. If you are interested in flora and other fauna groups you can record these as well and submit your records to the Greater Manchester Ecology Unit / GM Local Record Centre for use in species conservation and site protection.
9. MapMate recording software allows you to create maps pinpointing the locations of any species you have seen, both in Greater Manchester and throughout the UK. Want to be able to see where all your sightings of Whimbrel have been in the county or perhaps the distribution of all your Buzzards? MapMate can easily generate these with its atlas wizard. Examples of these maps can be found on the Atlas page of the Manchester Birding website.
10.GMBRG will maintain a secure back up of your records, so if your computer suffers a hard drive failure or is stolen, you’ll be able to get all your records back!
11.After the first year of using MapMate there is an annual licence fee of £11.00 to be paid but dependant on how many county birders purchase the software the GMBRG will look towards funding this annual fee for all users.
So if you’re interested in taking up this exciting offer or if you have any other queries, please do not hesitate to contact me at ianmckerchar1@gmail.com. Please remember that regardless of how often you get out birding, what species or how many you record, your records are valuable to us and in the opinion of the GMBRG, MapMate allows by far the most efficient and useful way of currently recording and submitting your records. For more information on the MapMate product, including computer requirements to run the software etc, please check MapMate's website at www.MapMate.co.uk
2. Excel Spreadsheet
Birders may also utilise the Excel spreadsheet available below to record their bird sightings as these can then be incorporated into the county database. The spreadsheet has a list of sites and observers attached to it.
Click here for the Excel spreadsheet to record all your county bird sightings
3. Typed (Word document) or handwritten records
We appreciate that not all birders may have access to a computer or may be willing to use either MapMate or the Excel file and with this in mind, we still welcome records to be submitted on a Word document or hand written.
Such records have to be manually inputted into the database by one of the county recorders though and as I'm sure you can appreciate, the receipt of large quantities of records in this way is incredibly time consuming for those who input the data. Therefore, it is very important that observers utilising either of these methods of submission follow the details in the 'records required' column of the systematic list on this website (here). This allows you to send us the records we really need.
Whatever method of record submission you use though, please aim to send your records to the County Recorder as soon as possible after the year end and certainly before the end of March.
TO SUBMIT A COUNTY OR
NATIONAL RARITY
Please use the rarity report form below, if this is not possible for any reason then please contact me for alternative arrangements.
To open the document simply click the rarity report form link below and save it to your computer by clicking 'file' then 'save as' and finally click 'save'. The document is then saved to your computer (usually in your documents) and can be used over and over again if necessary, simply fill it in as thoroughly as possible (see the 'guidelines for submissions' on the previous page for assistance if necessary) and email the completed form to me as an attachment.
CURRENT RARITIES COMMITTEE MEMBERS
(with effect from November 2010)
Rob Adderley
Andy Isherwood
Pete Hines
Ian McKerchar (Chairman)
John Rayner
Gulls Sub-committee members:
Rob Adderley
Ian McKerchar
Roy Travis
COUNTY RARITY LIST
The following (non BBRC) species and sub-species are county rarities and require a description to be provided to the County Rarities Committee (as of 28.12.11).
Bewick’s Swan; Bean Goose; Brent Goose; White-fronted Goose; American Wigeon; Green-winged Teal; Ring-necked Duck; Ferruginous Duck; Long-tailed Duck; Eider; Velvet Scoter; Surf Scoter; Smew; Black Grouse; Quail (non-calling birds); all Divers; Red-necked Grebe; Slavonian Grebe; Fulmar; all shearwater species; Wilson's Petrel; Storm Petrel; Leach's Petrel; Gannet; Shag; Night Heron; Cattle Egret; Great White Egret; Purple Heron; Spoonbill; Honey Buzzard; Black Kite; Red Kite; Montagu's Harrier; Goshawk; Rough-legged Buzzard; Red-footed Falcon; Spotted Crake; Corncrake; Common Crane; Stone Curlew; Kentish Plover; Dotterel; American Golden Plover; Little Stint; Temminck's Stint; Curlew Sandpiper; White-rumped Sandpiper; Pectoral Sandpiper; Purple Sandpiper; Buff-breasted Sandpiper; Red-necked Phalarope; Grey Phalarope; all skua species; Sabine's Gull; Ring-billed Gull; Caspian Gull; Yellow-legged Gull; Roseate Tern; White-winged Black Tern; all auk species; Turtle Dove; Nightjar; Alpine Swift; Bee-eater; Hoopoe; Wryneck; Woodlark; Shore Lark; Red-rumped Swallow; Richard's Pipit; Tawny Pipit; Water Pipit; Red-throated Pipit; Nightingale; Bluethroat; Barred Warbler; Cetti's Warbler; Aquatic Warbler; Marsh Warbler; Dartford Warbler; Subalpine Warbler; Icterine Warbler; Melodious Warbler; Greenish Warbler; Yellow-browed Warbler; Pallas's Warbler; Radde's Warbler; Dusky Warbler; Red-breasted Flycatcher; Bearded Tit; Marsh Tit; Golden Oriole; all shrike species; Chough; Hooded Crow; Rose-coloured Starling; Serin; Parrot Crossbill; Twite (usually lowland records only); Common (Mealy) Redpoll (except in influx years designated by the Assistant County Recorder for rarities); Arctic Redpoll; Common Rosefinch; Hawfinch; Lapland Bunting; Cirl Bunting; Ortolan Bunting; Rustic Bunting; Little Bunting.
SUBSPECIES:
Iceland Gull- "Kumlien's Gull"
L.g. kumlieni
Yellow Wagtail- all races other than flavissima
and any purported hybrids.
Chiffchaff -
all races other than
P. collybita
If observers are in any doubt as to what constitutes a county or national rarity they should not hesitate to contact the County Recorder.
Desert Wheatear, Irlam Moss, 2007 (photo by Ian McKerchar)- a top drawer rarity for the county
THANK YOU FOR TAKING THE TIME AND TROUBLE TO SEND IN
YOUR RECORDS
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