Bird Recording in Lothian

The SOC acts as the coordinating body for ornithological recording in Scotland. In Lothian, local recorder David Kelly is responsible for collating the records sent in by birdwatchers in the region.

The publication of the Lothian Bird Report is an important function of the Lothian SOC, and we can't do this without records from local birdwatchers. The more records we receive, the more comprehensive the LBR will be. We welcome records from everyone - you don't need to have a PhD in birdwatching.

WHAT TO REPORT

There are no hard-and-fast rules on what bird sightings to report, but some examples are given below. Remember that the SOC isn't just interested in rare birds - the Lothian Bird Report contains a section for every species seen during the year. (We do still like to hear about rare birds though!)

Here are some examples of information you might consider sending in:

• Early and late records of a migratory species.



• Peak counts at a regularly watched site for each calendar month.



• A summary for a common species - for example the numbers present at a particular site throughout the year. In general, individual records of a very common species (other than breeding records) are not so useful - unless they are put in context (eg first for the site, largest number seen there).



• Records of a less common or less widespread species. For many species we don't list individual sightings in the LBR, but records are still important for monitoring the status of the species in Lothian.



• Records of a rare or unusual species or sub-species - even if common elsewhere in the country. Sometimes extra information such as time of day, direction of flight etc might be helpful. Don't forget to send a Rare Bird Record Form to the LBRC secretary Brendan Doe if you see a species which is considered by one of the records committees (Local, SBRC, or BBRC). See the main SOC website for more information. Records of these species will not be published in the Lothian Bird Report unless accepted by the relevant committee.



• Records of a species away from its usual sites - for example inland records of a bird usually seen at sea.



• Breeding records (or probable breeding records), including territory counts, brood sizes, first broods, records of displaying birds etc. Note that 'sensitive' information will not be published in the Lothian Bird Report.



• Seawatch records. Please give the time period that your count relates to, so we know whether or not to add other observers' counts to yours.

Remember only to include records for Lothian region (comprising the West Lothian, Edinburgh, Midlothian, and East Lothian Council areas).

It's worth noting that all records are held in a database for future reference, so your efforts won't be wasted even if they don't all appear in the report.

WHAT INFORMATION TO INCLUDE

Records should include

• the name of the species seen. If possible use the name as given in the most recent Lothian Bird Report.



• the number of birds seen. To avoid confusion this should always be the number of birds - not, for example, the number of pairs. Please leave this as a number only, without any text. If no count is relevant to your record, enter zero.



• a comment with additional information such as sex, age, and plumage (eg "2mm + 1f", "1st-w").



• where the species was seen. Please give a grid reference for a less well known site, or refer to a more familiar site nearby (eg "White Hill NT215672", or "White Hill, Bonaly"). To help us to sort records by location, please enter the general site name first - eg "Musselburgh, Wader Scrapes" rather than "Wader Scrapes, Musselburgh".



• the date when the species was seen. Please take care with the date format - use DD/MM/YYYY rather than MM/DD/YYYY. If the record applies to a range of dates - eg from 6/11/2003 to 14/11/2003 - enter the first date here, and include the last date in the comments - eg "Present until 14/11/2003". If your record doesn't relate to a particular date, enter the 1st of January.



• any comments that you think would be helpful and put your record in context - don't assume that the Recorder/Editor knows everything about every site! Include any information that you think would be of interest to a reader of the Lothian Bird Report - we'd like it to be as readable as possible. (See also WHAT TO REPORT above.) Please keep these comments separate from the comments on sex, age, plumage etc above.

WHAT FORMAT TO USE

Please try to send in your records as a Microsoft Works Spreadsheet or Excel Spreadsheet.

The following example shows the SOC Bird Recording Database Excel spreadsheet, which can be downloaded from the main SOC website. This allows the species name to be entered as a two-letter BTO code - the full name and Euring number are automatically filled in for you.

If you don't have Excel or Works Spreadsheet, a table in a Word document will suffice.

As a last resort, a basic text file could be used - with commas to separate the names, counts, locations etc.

Other computer formats may be acceptable - contact David Kelly for details.

WHERE TO SEND YOUR RECORDS

Records for 2003 should be emailed to David Kelly, if possible before 31st January 2004.

FURTHER READING

The main SOC website contains more information on bird recording in Scotland.