Bird Atlas - increasing species lists

You can use the 'priority squares' feature on the Bird Atlas website to check species that are yet to be recorded in a 10km square but have been recorded in a neighbouring square. It will default to your home square but you can re-centre to check other squares by clicking on them while holding down the shift key.

First some general points:

• Record full-winged feral wildfowl and gamebirds - e.g. Snow Geese - so long as they are not obviously in captivity.
• Note that Common Redpoll in the list refers to Mealy Redpoll and not Lesser Redpoll, which is the common species in the UK. This reflects recent splits and you are likely to see Lesser as a race of Common in field guides.
• You may find records of species that are uncommon in the region queried as they can often need a description locally or for the Yorkshire recorders; e.g. Goshawk, Lesser Spotted Woodpecker. I have to make sure that the Atlas is in line with the 'official record'. See previous posts from February 2009.

Targets species right across the region:

• Scarce gulls, e.g. white-winged gulls such as Glaucous, Iceland.
• Any scarce birds are worth recording.
• Any species of goose - although feral Greylag and Canada Goose have been recorded in most, although not all squares.
• Bewick's Swan, Black-tailed Godwit, Common (Mealy) Redpoll, Common Crossbill, Gadwall, Goshawk, Hen and March Harrier, Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, Little Egret, Long-eared Owl, Red Kite, Ruddy Duck, Short-eared Owl, Smew

The next few posts will list target species for each 10km square. Information for these can be found in using the 'priority squares' function although I have amended some lists to add (or subtract) where relevant.

Please contact me if you have any questions.