Willow Tit survey

Jono Leadley is organising a local survey of Willow Tit distribution and numbers in the York Region/YOC recording area this year. It is hoped that this will provide us with a baseline view of this species that can be used for comparison in the future.

Anyone can help out with this survey, so long as they are able to identify it. See the useful video at http://www.bto.org/about-birds/bird-id/telling-apart-marsh-and-willow-tits

Please email me (using the link on the right) if you would like further details, instructions and recording spreadsheet.

Bird Atlas pre-publication offer

The Bird Atlas is due to be published later in the year and you can take advantage of the pre-publication offer and save 35% by ordering before 31/07/13 at http://www.bto.org/shop/bird-atlas.

Look out for flyers advertising the same in the next BTO News, which will be the volunteering issue and will arrive shortly.

BirdTrack Homepage

Have you been to BirdTrack this week?

If you have, you will notice a new, redesigned homepage. Nick Moran, who runs Birdtrack at the BTO, says: "We believe that by increasing the relevance of BirdTrack to birders on a day-to-day basis we can greatly increase the quantity of high-quality data being collected."

The new BirdTrack Home page makes the records submitted the focus of the online application. An interactive map and graph tool are at the centre of the page, encouraging visitors to see what has been added and go on to submit their own records. A competitive/celebratory element has been introduced too, initially displaying the top 5 submitters of complete lists this month and the top 5 year-listers. Logged-in users will be able to see their own names/stats in these tables. There is also a real-time feed showing the total number of records submitted this month, the latest complete list submitted, and the most recent news stories.

Woodcock Survey 2013

The Woodcock Survey 2013 will be run this summer to take stock of population changes since the last one, 10 years ago.

The survey is based on point counts of roding males at dusk in selected core sites and there is also a possibility of being able to cover suitable additional sites. In the York Region, I have a few high priority sites to get covered.

The survey will be run from the website in a similar way to the Winter Thrush Survey and details of methods, with survey forms and guides, can be seen at http://www.bto.org/volunteer-surveys/woodcock-survey. You can also register your interest on the site, which will house the site allocation and data submission system in a few weeks' time.

Contact me to volunteer or find out more.

Mid winter comments

We're almost into 2013, so I thought I'd look briefly back to some surveys this year and forward too.

• Winter Thrush Survey - we are at the mid-point of this survey's first winter and into the period for carrying out the core site visits. Hopefully the weather will improve to allow these to be carried out.
• Breeding Bird Survey - this year was a record for the region with 36 squares covered. There are still results from a further two or three to come in too. I should be preparing for the new season's surveys in a few weeks time.
• Waterways Breeding Bird Survey - results have come in from two of the regular four sites. I expect data from a third site.
• Woodcock Survey - I expect that the region will have sites to cover for this new survey next year.

Many thanks for reading the blog during 2012. Happy New Year and good birding in 2013.

Winter thrush update

It's nearly time for carrying out the core site survey visits, these start on 27th December.

In the York Region, all core sites have been allocated out, so I am hoping for a good return. Let's hope the weather improves.

John Marchant at the BTO has prepared some videos to help observers use the website effectively. These can be found at this URL:
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFFgJk1PU_BPROM7w7jRjeTRrhR8PsSCi;
and also there's a link in the email that John has sent to observers in the last few days.

Merry Christmas and all success with the survey.

Winter Thrush Survey

The survey has been running since September, with 19 core squares in the York Region allocated and another 40 selected by volunteers. Many of the squares have had visits recorded already.

It's coming up to December, so we are only a few weeks away from the essential mid-winter visit for the core squares: between 27th Dec 2012 and 10th Jan 2013.

I have had another 5 core squares allocated in various parts of the region so am looking for your help to get these covered. As a minimum, these require the one mid-winter visit but surveyors can supplement this at other times too. I currently have squares in the following areas: Cawood, Moor Monkton, Stockton-on-the-Forest, Huby and Scrayingham. Please contact me if you'd like to help out.

You can still choose your own areas if you have a regular walk, for instance. Please visit http://www.bto.org/volunteer-surveys/winter-thrushes.