Bird Atlas maps

There have been some exciting changes to the summary maps that you can see on the Bird Atlas website.

Species richness maps - now with smoothing to counter some oddities from the coverage of the previous atlas - http://blx1.bto.org/atlas-results/species-richness.html.

Species missing - to show gaps -http://blx1.bto.org/atlas-results/species-missing.html.

Confirmation of breeding - http://blx1.bto.org/atlas-results/percentconfirmed.html.

Regional maps - now 2 versions: low and high resolution depending on which way you view them - high resolution make use of Google Maps - http://blx1.bto.org/atlas-results/mapsyork.html.

You can also see results from other regions by selecting from the drop down list two thirds the way down this page http://blx1.bto.org/atlas-results/keystats.html.

Have a look and see what you think.

BTO date for your diary

Put the 10th April into your diary for a Yorkshire BTO Conference at Bishop Burton College near to Beverley. More details to follow but there's likely to be a full agenda of talks with a local interest and also some by BTO staff. I expect a talk on the Atlas and the BBS.

YOC date for your diary - The Sparrowhawk

Professor Ian Newton will be giving a talk on The Sparrowhawk at the York Ornithological Club meeting on January 5th 2010.

He is the authority on the species and has written the definitive monograph as well as being BTO Chairman.

The meeting starts at 7.30 pm at the Friends' Meeting House on Friargate, York.

There's a small contribution on the door to cover costs.

Can anyone help a neighbour out?

Our neighbouring region, Yorkshire (North-east), has not had as thorough a coverage of Timed Tetrad Visits. This region covers much of the North York Moors and so is sparsely populated. This means that Mike, the RR, doesn't have as many people to call on as I do.

If anyone fancies taking on tetrads in his area please request them through the Atlas website www.birdatlas.net.

The areas that look to need most help are those immediately north of the York Region: SE58, SE59, SE68 and SE69. It's a chance to visit quite a different habitat to those in the more lowland areas of our region.

Atlas update this winter

In the York Region, we have a good spread of coverage for the winter. However, some 10km squares are more of a priority for allocation of Timed Tetrad Visits to ensure an even effort across the region: SE56, SE57, SE65, SE66 and SE76. That's not to say there is a problem in these, just that other areas have more squares allocated.

The key aims are to:
* get these allocated tetrads visited twice for the winter,
* complete the winter visit for those only visited once previously,
* boost species lists with Roving Records, and
* make sure that there have been after dark visits to all 10km squares to listen for nocturnal and crepuscular species - although most areas already have records for Tawny, Barn and Little Owl.