Recording Sightings

[mike hawley]

Without wanting to get the hood of my anorak in a twist could I ask how birdwatchers record their sightings. I have read of some birders keeping annual tallies and lifetime tallies and wondered: whether they use some piece of software, what level of detail they find suits best, what kind of reference the record subsequently provides?
I have just resumed regular birdwatching after a few years break and would welcome any advice in this area.

[Steve Lister]

Probably every birder has their own way of keeping records. It all depends on what you are interested in and what you think is worth recording.

Personally I write up my observations in the tried-and-tested page-a-day diary, which I have going back to 1975. To complement this I keep my lists, both for the year and for 'life', on computer spreadsheets that I have designed to suit my needs. Up to a couple of years ago it was all in little checklist booklets.

At the same time as writing my diary I fill in record slips to send significant records to the local society and update Word files to send to other counties at the required intervals, usually quarterly.

And not to forget sending records in to Migration Watch.

Steve

PS Have just noticed another thread Recording Bird sightings that covers the same thing.

[Adey Baker]

I usually write mine in a notebook which I keep for future reference.

Sometimes it's just a list of birds seen at the location concerned - other times it's numbers, descriptions, etc., depending on which species is involved.

A note on the weather, with wind directions, etc. can be illuminating when checking back, subsequently.

I've got over 30 years worth of notes - sometimes it's full lists of birds seen, sometimes just the highlights, so the thought of transferring them to a database or whatever to provide me with something that's actually useful (as opposed to just neat and tidy) fills me with horror - there just aren't enough hours left for me to do it, so I'd have to give up birding to make the time available!

If you're an 'officey'-type person I suppose a database would seem a good idea when just starting out afresh. I think there are some programs available based around 'Access' but I've not seen any of them to be able to comment.

Although I imagine they could be good for the pure 'data' side of your records, I'm not sure whether they allow you to give the 'feel' of that special day's birding when you recall it years later.

There's also the possibility that you'd tend to make your birding fit the program rather than the other way round!

[SimonC]

It all depends on whether you are a "lister" or not I suppose!
For my sins, i am an unashamed "lister", I keep a life list, year lists, trip lists, and county list (Herts).
The "data" for these lists is collected in a few ways: casual sightings of new "year ticks" are recorded in a small week-to-view diary, trip lists are recorded either in my notebook, or a book of "tick-lists", like the old RSPB grey ones, but my own creation made in M$ word (cheaper!!) but normally both (I have the memory capacity of an ant)
Ultimately, all my sightings are transfered to a birding database called Bird Recorder 32 (http://www.wildlife.co.uk/birding_software/news.htm) though I'm slowly transferring this to one by a fellow BF member (here) (http://www.brandonbirding.co.uk/)


plus I keep everything in those "tick-list" books for back-up (memory like an ant - or have I said that already?)

I'll get me anorak ;)

[Dave B Smith]

Mike,
There's more info on a similar thread in the Tips for New Birders column. Here's the link:
Recording Sightings (http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=14034)

Theres also an older thread on software for recording that I started last August or september in the "Lists" column.

Good luck,

[Charles Harper]

I empathize with Adey. No time anymore... or reason, if the truth be known... to transfer to digital format. It`s much more fun to rummage in the old notebook pile, and stumble across a daylist with water stains and a rough sketch of something you never DID identify...

[gthang]

Well, I usually record them with my digital camera. I see a new bird, I take a picture (For Identification purposes as well as proof that I actually saw it). So far, I've photographed 15 different species. My dad has photographed 8 of the 15 that I've photographed. However, he has more birds on his photographed list than I do, but since we were together when we saw his birds, it counts on my list of seen birds.