Submitting records

Submitting records...

Cornwall Birds are now using the Mapmate system for recording birds in the county. The advantage of this database is that it is widely used by clubs and societies throughout the country, as well as by thousands of individuals for recording everything from mosses and liverworts to cetaceans. Records can be exchanged between recorders so that large volumes of data can be downloaded onto a main database quickly and easily. In Cornwall this means that we can have a team of people imputing data and sending it to the county recorder, speeding up the lengthy process of adding every single bird record to the database. A small team has already been assembled and training on the system begins in early January.

Another major advantage of the Mapmate system is that it can import emailed Spreadsheet records provided they are submitted in the following format:

Taxon

Vernacular

Site

Gridref

VC

Recorder

Determiner

Date

Quantity

Method

Sex

Stage

Status

Comment

This is not as daunting as it looks, and indeed some of the columns can be left blank. The following however are important

Taxon: The scientific name – including sub-specific name for distinct sub-species, i.e. Motacilla flava flavissima

Site: Hopefully self explanatory

Gridref: CBWPS uses a 4 figure grid reference, and a comprehensive gazetteer can be found at the back of the Cornwall Bird Report. A 6 figure gird ref can also be used if preferred

VC: The county is divided into 2 vice counties. West Cornwall is VC 1 and East Cornwall is VC2. The dividing line is more or less from the Camel to the truro river. If in doubt, a rough guide is that SW grid refs are usually VC1 and SX and SS grid refs are VC2

Recorder: Again self explanatory – usually YOU

Determiner: A determiner is someone who confirms a record, so if you see a House Sparrow and can identify it yourself – you are the determiner. If someone else identifies it for you – they are the determiner.

Date: can be written as either 01.01.07 or 01/01/07 or 1^{st
January 07}

Quantity: The number of birds seen. Mapmate doesn’t like estimates so c100 won’t work, however 99+ will. It’s one of the anomalies of the system!

All the other columns can be left blank, though you can fill them in if you wish to provide extra information.

The vernacular column is the common English name for a bird which you may find useful to fill in, though Mapmate will assign an English name from the Taxon. For Example – it doesn’t like Common Scoter or Common Gull so Melanitta nigra is Black Scoter and Larus canus is Mew Gull.

If you want more information on any of the other columns, or to receive a blank spreadsheet file, email the recorder recorder@cbwps.org.uk

This is what a completed spreadsheet will look like:

^Taxon ^Site ^Gridref ^VC ^Recorder ^Determiner ^Date ^Quantity

^{Apus melba} ^Falmouth ^SW8032
1
^Birguides ^Birdguides
30/03/2006

1

^{Apus melba} ^Truro ^SW8244
1
^Birguides ^Birdguides
05/04/2006

1

^{Apus melba} ^Porthallow ^SW7923
1
^Birguides ^Birdguides
16/04/2006

1

^{Apus melba} ^Redruth ^SW6942
1
^Birguides ^Birdguides
09/07/2006

1

^{Pluvialis dominica} ^{St. Just} ^SW3731
1
^Birguides ^Birdguides
15/09/2006

1

^{Pluvialis dominica} ^{Nanjizal Valley} ^SW360239
1
^Birguides ^Birdguides
01/11/2006

1

^{Pluvialis dominica} ^{Colliford Lake} ^SX183744
2
^Birguides ^Birdguides
04/11/2006

1

^{Larus argentatus
smithsonianus} ^{Sennen Cove} ^SW3526
1
^Birguides ^Birdguides
28/01/2006

1

^{Larus argentatus
smithsonianus} ^{Sennen Cove} ^SW3526
1
^Birguides ^Birdguides
11/02/2006

1

^{Larus argentatus
smithsonianus} ^{Sennen Cove} ^SW3526
1
^Birguides ^Birdguides
11/02/2006

1

^{Larus argentatus
smithsonianus} ^{Sennen Cove} ^SW3526
1
^Birguides ^Birdguides
21/02/2006

1

^{Larus argentatus
smithsonianus} ^{Sennen Cove} ^SW3526
1
^Birguides ^Birdguides
28/02/2006

1

^{Larus argentatus
smithsonianus} ^{Sennen Cove} ^SW3526
1
^Birguides ^Birdguides
14/03/2006

1

^{Larus argentatus
smithsonianus} ^{Sennen Cove} ^SW3526
1
^Birguides ^Birdguides
15/03/2006

1

^{The entry of records into
our database is a huge task, one that needs to be spread over the whole
year. If you submit more than just a handful of records therefore,
please submit them on a quarterly basis.
For more information on Mapmate see

www.mapmate.co.uk}
If you wish you send records by post, please send to the County Recorder: Darrell Clegg, 55 Lower Fore Street, Saltash PL12 6JQ e-mail (click): recorder

Please ensure that your name and address, together with the year to which the records apply, are clearly shown on the front page.

All records are of use. Whilst not every report is included in our annual "Birds in Cornwall", they are all entered in the database, where they are available for research. They may be used in the compilation of the Cornwall Bird Atlas. a long-term project for which data is required over a period of a number of years.

To be of the greatest value, records should contain as much of the following information as possible:

species - English name, new or old

date - 5.10, 5/10 or 5 Oct are all acceptable

location - as accurate as possible, using names appearing on the Ordnance Survey maps. Grid references are vital for atlas use.

number - individuals, pairs, singing males, etc.

age - adult, first cal (calendar year), second cal, etc.

sex

direction - (flying) N,S,E,W, NW,NE, etc.

Records in the following categories are especially useful:

first and last dates for migrants

scarce and rare species (see below)

counts of migrants (e.g. finches, wildfowl, gulls, thrushes, waders, seabirds, etc)

breeding records with grid references for the following species:

Common Kestrel   Peregrine                          Grey Partridge           Common Quail    Moorhen         Oystercatcher            Northern Lapwing       Common Snipe          Common Curlew        "colonial" seabirds Stock Pigeon        Turtle Dove             Barn Owl                Little Owl         European Nightjar Common Kingfisher    Green Woodpecker L.Sp.Woodpecker Wood Lark              Sky Lark Sand Martin           Tree Pipit         Meadow Pipit         Grey Wagtail   Dipper             Common Redstart Whinchat        Common Stonechat Northern Wheatear Song Thrush Mistle Thrush         Grasshopper Warbler Cetti's Warbler     Sedge Warbler       Reed Warbler       Dartford Warbler       Lesser Whitethroat   Spotted Flycatcher   Pied Flycatcher     Willow Tit House Sparrow   Linnet                 Common Redpoll Bullfinch         Yellowhammer            Cirl Bunting              Reed Bunting            Corn Bunting

winter records (Nov to Feb) including a grid ref of flocks of the following species:

European Golden Plover    Northern Lapwing             Barn Owl                         Wood Lark                      Sky Lark (flocks of 50+) Fieldfare            Redwing            House Sparrow     Goldfinch    Linnet          Yellowhammer              Cirl Bunting                 Reed Bunting             Corn Bunting

roost records (all year) including grid ref for the species and groups listed below:

Great Cormorant            Little Egret                      Hen Harrier                     Merlin                            All waders All gulls (200+ birds)   All terns                    Sand Martin              Barn Swallow            Pied Wagtail All corvids                      Starling                       Finches                             Buntings

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