Thirty one million birds counted so far.

Revised text of a John Woodland piece from 30 March 2008

November 2007 saw the start of the biggest survey ever to take place in the UK. A new “Winter” atlas and a new “Breeding” atlas will result after 4 years fieldwork during 2007-2011.

The present Atlasses are 20 years old and fast becoming out of date. They are one of the main tools which conservationists use in their work to protect our environment. The need to update them is paramount. Thus the “British Trust for Ornithology” (BTO) alongside “BirdWatch Ireland” (BWI) and the Scottish Ornithologists’ Club (SOC) have begun this mammoth task. It is only going to succeed with the help from birders across the country. Now is your opportunity to take part in this exciting and essential project.

There are two recording methods to choose from:

Roving Records

Anyone and everyone can send in Roving Records - sightings of species you see around your garden and local community. For the time being, all communications regarding the BTO Atlas in Devon should be addressed to the National Coordinator, Dawn Balmer, at the BTO, The Nunnery, Thetford, Norfolk IP24 2PU; tel. 01842 750050; email dawn.balmer@bto.org

During April to July, one of the primary aims of Atlas fieldwork, particularly Roving Records, will be to gather evidence of breeding for species in each 10-km square. There are three levels of breeding evidence: Possible, Probable and Confirmed. Each level has a number of categories that are indicators of breeding evidence; many are easy to record during day-to-day bird watching and observation. All the forms and instructions show the breeding codes and a handy pocket card with the codes on is also available. A few codes warrant further explanation:

• T (Permanent Territory) should be used for territorial behaviour, such as song, observed on at least two days, a week or further apart, at the same site.
• D (Courtship and Display) is to be used for those species that display during the breeding season; for example, Great Crested Grebes, seabirds, some species of wader, Woodpigeons. Song-flighting Skylarks should be recorded as S (singing male present). Note that wildfowl, for example Goldeneye in southern Britain, pair up on the wintering grounds and display to each other; this should not be recorded as D because the birds are not in suitable nesting habitat.
• DD (Distraction Display/feigning injury). Special care should be taken with his code. This is mostly likely to be seen from waders pretending to have a broken wing to distract your attention from their eggs or chicks e.g. Ringed Plover.
• FL (Fledged Young) refers to young (nidicolous species Like Blackbird, Robin) or downy young (nidifugous species like Lapwing, Mallard). Records of independent juveniles should not be used
  because young birds often move a long way from their natal area, so sightings of juveniles that are not dependent on their parents do not necessarily prove breeding in that tetrad.

There are three non-breeding codes which have been introduced for this Atlas project:

• F (Flying over) is to be used on Roving Records forms during winter and the breeding season to indicate birds simply flying over a tetrad or 10-km square and not using the habitat. A hovering Kestrel or a party of Swifts screaming around buildings should not be given the F code as they are not just passing through.
• M is for a species seen in the breeding season but suspected to still be on migration. A good example would be a Ring Ouzel on the coast in April; it is not in suitable breeding habitat and is clearly a migrant.
• U is for a species that is suspected to be a summering non-breeder; waterfowl are most likely to fall into this category. An example might be a Wigeon summering on a lake in Suffolk.

Roving Records are easy to log and very valuable. Please contact the BTO for some forms or register on-line and submit all your data direct to the Atlas website http://www.birdatlas.net/

Open the pages for Devon and you will see just how much has already been covered. There is of course lots more to do even though well over 200 Devon birders are already involved.

Timed Tetrad Visits

Timed Tetrad Visits (TTVs). require that you count for either one or two hours whilst walking in a tetrad (a 2x2 km square).

Following footpaths, lanes, bridle paths, etc , it is often surprising what you can find in a new and previously unvisited area. Winter TTVs require a visit in November/December and a second visit in January/February, while breeding season TTVs take place in April/May and June/July, counting every bird seen or heard species by species. Your records can also be entered on-line, simply and quickly.

Building the Atlas

We are in the very fortunate position for Bird Atlas 2007–2011 in being able to utilise records from other BTO-led projects, which will help compile the distribution maps. We can easily bring in records from BTO/CJ Garden BirdWatch, BTO/JNCC/RSPB Breeding Bird Survey, BTO/RSPB/BWI BirdTrack – all will be treated as ‘top-up’ Roving Records.

In addition, we can add records from the Ringing Scheme and the Nest Record Scheme; these two schemes have the added bonus of providing information on breeding success. It’s also possible to enter breeding evidence on BirdTrack, so any extra information added here will be fed through to the Atlas. It’s important for BirdTrack that you take a few minutes to define your sites, so that we can be sure that your records relate to a specific 1-km square, tetrad or 10-km square.

We also hope to be able to use records from BTO/WWT/RSPB/JNCC Wetland Bird Survey (WeBS).

If you are not aware of Bird Track go to http://www.birdtrack.net/ - this is a joint BTP/RSPB/BWI project and anyone can join in. It is just one more way to “MAKE YOUR BIRDING COUNT”.

The submission of Atlas records on-line allows the BTO to very quickly build a picture of the distributions of birds. Go to Early findings to see a few of the early results for Little Egret, Nuthatch and Buzzard.

Your involvement would be very welcome. Simply contact:- the National Coordinator, Dawn Balmer, at the BTO, The Nunnery, Thetford, Norfolk IP24 2PU; tel. 01842 750050; email dawn.balmer@bto.org

You can download three PDF files here:>

• The BTO Timed Tetrad Visits - Instructions. You will need to contact Dawn Balmer to arrange where your tetrads will be. Many Devon Tetrads have already been taken but there will always be some available.
• The BTO Roving Records Form - this form can be downloaded here or at http://www.birdatlas.net/ and once filled in can be sent back to The BTO at the address at the bottom of page 1 of the form. These records can also be submitted directly on-line
• The BTO Introduction & How to Help document - this provides a general overview of how to help and what to do.

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