Peter Reay, March 2008

Introduction

The Society is grateful to all observers who submit records, but especially those who do so on a regular basis throughout the year as this certainly speeds up the input of records into the database. The deadline of 31st January for records of the previous year has been set to ensure that records are assessed and processed in time for inclusion in the Devon Bird Report (DBR). There may not be time to enter into the database records received after January and, therefore, to publish them in the relevant DBR. This is unfortunate because it can both delay the publication of some important and useful records, and result in observers not being correctly acknowledged.

All records and names and details submitted by observers will be entered onto a secure computer system and their names will be included in the list of contributors in the DBR. Records may be passed to other organisations, consultants and individuals who have a legitimate reason to request the information in accordance with Society's aims, objectives and policies. Please inform the County Recorder if you have any concerns or objections in this respect.

2. What records should be submitted

Although we are willing to receive all records of birds in Devon, some records are more useful than others, depending on the species. The types of records required for each species are indicated by a record code against the species name listed in the Devon List & Checklist as well as the Devon List Appendix in current Devon Bird Reports. The record codes are as follows:-

BBRC Codes

@ - Species for which descriptions are required by the British Birds Rarities Committee (BBRC).
A - Species which have been recorded in an apparently natural state at least once since 1950.
B - Species recorded in an apparently natural state before 1950
C - Species that, although originally introduced by man, either deliberately or accidentally, have established breeding populations derived from introduced stock, that maintain themselves without necessary recourse to further introduction.

C1 - Naturalised introduced species
C2 - Naturalised established species
C3 - Naturalised re-established species
C4 - Naturalised feral species

D & E - Only those also included in categories A, B or C are listed here and included in the British List. Those that have bred in the wild in Britain are designated E*.
# - Species on the British List, but not known to have occurred in a genuine wild state in Devon and / or to have been self-sustaining for the last ten years. These species are not included in the Devon totals.

Devon Codes

(A) - (Devon Rarities). All records required with full supporting notes
(B) - All records required. With brief supporting notes
(C) - All records required
(D) - All breeding, but only selected non-breeding records required
(E) - Only selected records required

What is meant by full supporting notes?

These are explained on official forms for both national and Devon rarities supplied by the County Recorder available by email as well as by post. For useful additional information see also the article 'Get it down!' by Mike Langman in Devon Birds 52 (1), April 1999, pp 10-16. Copies of the article are available from the County Recorder, if required.

Problems have occurred with the submission of full descriptive notes for both national and Devon rarities. Unfortunately, some observers are reluctant to complete the appropriate forms because in some cases they were not the first person to record the bird. However, it helps immensely to receive more than one descriptive note enabling the BBRC or DBRC to corroborate details, especially where some descriptive notes are wanting of detail. These records should be submitted to the County Recorder as soon as possible after the bird was seen, whilst the details are still fresh in the observer's mind and hopefully adequately recorded in their notebook.

Photographs are a very welcome addition to the records form, either as a print, slide or digitally on a CD. Photographs can also be emailed to the County Recorder, but please remember to add details of species, (and age, sex and other details if applicable), date picture taken, site and of course the photographer's name. Any pictures submitted may be used in the Society's publications, with due acknowledgement, unless the photographer instructs otherwise. Where identification has relied mainly on song or call, sound details, preferable on a CD, should also be submitted in support of the record.

If the appropriate forms (referred to above, and available to download from this site or from the County Recorder) are used to provide supporting details, this will greatly assist the assessing committees, and speed up the process of reaching decisions.

What is meant by brief supporting notes?

Brief supporting notes should include the main feature used to identify the bird, the distance between bird and observer, optical equipment used, what the bird was doing and weather/viewing conditions. These can be entered in the Comments/Observations column of the recording form or on a separate sheet.

What is meant by a record?

A record is a description of a sighting (or hearing!) that is submitted to the County Recorder and which will eventually appear on the database. Not all sightings will become records, however, and for some species and situations, a series of sightings may generate just one record, such as the last date for a migrant or a monthly maximum count. The essential components of a record are the species, date, site, number of birds and observer's name, but times, age, sex and additional comments/observations (including any brief supporting notes) may also be relevant.

What is meant by breeding and non-breeding records?

• A breeding record is one which involves either confirmed or suspected breeding. For all A-D species, the evidence for breeding should be made clear in the observations column, and could range from bird or pair present in suitable habitat at the right time (possible breeding) to nest, eggs or recently fledged or downy young (confirmed breeding). In addition, the record should include dates, site including grid reference, numbers of pairs or nests and any information on productivity (numbers of eggs, hatched young and/or fledged young) as possible. The Society has recently adopted a new policy in respect of publication, storage and transfer of data relating to rare breeding birds in Devon. This policy relates to Schedule 1 and other rare breeding species and observers are requested to inform the County Recorder immediately in respect of any such breeding or suspected breeding. For further details and advice, please contact the County Recorder.
• A non-breeding record has no direct connection with breeding, but could involve pre- and post-breeding assemblages and the summering of non-breeding individuals, as well as the more usual passage migrants, winter visitors and residents outside the breeding season.

What is meant by a selected record?

For rarer birds, every sighting is likely to become a record (except perhaps for repeated sightings of long-staying individuals), but for common species, only sightings involving information specifically requested need be submitted as records. These then become selected records. It is perhaps obvious that no observers send in a record of every time they see a Blackbird - but where do we draw the line? Deciding on this has given rise to the D and E codes and the sorts of breeding and non-breeding records required for these commoner species.

The types of records that are most useful are as follows:

• Selected breeding records (for E species):
  • Dated confirmation of breeding in a tetrad in a specified year;
  • Census data from defined sites (stating area covered), tetrads or km squares or timed visits;
  • Productivity data (numbers of eggs, hatched young and/or fledged young) from a reasonable sample of nests;
  • Unusual records (in terms of nest site, habitat, dates, numbers or behaviour).
• Selected non-breeding records (for D & E species):
  • Dated monthly maximum counts for main or well-watched sites (and ideally for several months for private sites such as gardens);
  • Records of flocks/counts considered to be large for the site and/or time of year (see also the species accounts in recent DBRs for guidance on flocks/counts of most interest);
  • Census data from defined sites (stating area covered), tetrads or km squares or timed visits;
  • Visible migration (flock details or timed counts);
  • Unusual records (in terms of plumage, site, habitat, dates, numbers or behaviour).

3. How to submit records

Records should be submitted to the County Recorder by one of the following methods. Regular submission of records, monthly or quarterly, depending on extent, throughout the year is strongly recommended.

• Electronically. This is the preferred method of submission of records, and a standardised EXCEL spreadsheet is available which can be emailed as an attachment and will enable records to be directly transferred onto the database, thereby saving valuable data processing time. Details and instructions on its use are available from either the County Recorder or the Data Manager. Observers who use other spreadsheet software can obtain a compatible version of the data submission spreadsheet on request from the Data Manager.
• Written. The County Recorder holds a supply of observation forms which can be used by those observers who do not have access to email. These forms are easy to complete and are obtainable from the County Recorder enclosing a SAE.

4. Information required - the columns on the recording form/ spreadsheet.

Species. Please use the English names as set out in the Appendix for all types of record submission, even in situations where identification to species is not possible e.g. Guillemot/Razorbill (rather than unidentified auks), Pied/White Wagtails (rather than alba wagtails) and for hybrids e.g. presumed Canada x Greylag Goose (plus description to help confirm or elucidate parentage). For 'exotica' (the national Category D and E species, which are not listed in the Appendix) use the most familiar name, as in recent DBRs, or ideally from the BOU website (www.bou.org.uk/recbrlst3.html). When a subspecies is identified, and is not listed in the Appendix, please contact the County Recorder.

Locality & Grid Reference. It is important to be as precise as possible about the locality of sighting. Wherever relevant, please use standard names from the site gazetteer published in the latest edition of the DBR. Otherwise give four or six figure grid references when submitting records of birds from little known sites, e.g. hamlets, farms, smallholdings, woods, road junctions/crosses/bridges, minor watercourses, remote farmland, moor land and non-headland coastal locations. Grid references are also very important for rare and scarce breeding birds. Grid references really do reduce the amount of time needed to write the species accounts in the report and to update the sites gazetteer in the annual report.

Dates. It is important to accurately date all sightings (even monthly maxima) using the normal order dating format, i.e. day, month, and year. Care should be exercised when using the standardised Excel spreadsheet that your PC does not reverse the day and month when entered, as per the date format used in the USA. Usually only one date will be used (the 'First Date' on the spreadsheet), but it may be useful to add a 'Last Date' for some records. If a record relates to a whole month, or several months, it is more useful to give the actual first and last dates, rather than just the months.

Time. Most records do not include the time, even in a general sense such as 'morning' or 'late evening', but it can sometimes be very useful in tracking the movements of birds, or in deciding whether the birds from two or more records can sensibly be added together. In the specific instance of sea-watching and other visible migration observations, recording both 'Time' and 'End Time' is particularly useful as it also enables the numbers of birds passing per unit time (passage rates) to be calculated.

Number of Birds (Count). Be as accurate as possible, and give minima rather than maxima in the case of estimates. Only a number (numeral) should be inserted into the 'Count' column, and for every record a number should be inserted, even if only a single bird is involved. This should be supplemented in the Comments/Observations column, for example with a '+' to indicate a minimum or a 'circa' to indicate an estimate, and to indicate whether the count refers to a flock or an area count, and whether birds, pairs, singing males, territories or nests are being counted. Zero counts can be very useful in situations where, on previous visits, a species is unexpectedly absent.

Comments/Observations. More use should be made of this column. For most records, it is pertinent to use it to provide either:

• details of the count (see above) and information on sex, age etc (always give this information if available);
• brief supporting notes, mainly in the case of B species;
• additional notes, for example on plumage, food or behaviour, that may be of interest; or
• a justification for submitting the record. The relevance of a record may not be immediately obvious to anyone using the database, in particular section writers trying to decide which records merit inclusion in the DBR species accounts. As examples of how qualifying notes can change context, usefulness and interest, consider the following two records which clearly demonstrate both awareness of status at the sites watched, and enthusiasm for communicating the significance of the observations:

  Shelduck, South Huish Marsh, 30/05/03, nine juvs. At first glance, this is a fairly unremarkable record, but the qualifying notes provide adequate justification for submitting it: "Newly hatched - first ever successful breeding on this DBWPS reserve - but many previous failed attempts".

  Blackcap, Hardwick Wood, 21/03/03, two. Again, not particularly eye-catching, but value is added in the comment: "Male in full song and male in subsong at opposite ends of the wood. March song also recorded here in 1999 (2 birds) and 2000 (1). Most March song I've ever recorded".