Birds
Further to John Melling’s post in Oxonbirds, the map shows a visual representation of where effort could be concentrated in the final few weeks of the national (and county) bird atlas. The paler tetrads are where fewer than 10 species (in cases no birds) have been recorded. This is the last chance to make your mark on the map and help to produce a robust data set that will be used for years to come.
As John has already commented (and as can be seen from the map), areas that are in need of attention are concentrated around the following: near Bicester; to the north of Witney; and around Hook Norton.
It shouldn’t take too much time or effort to stop at an under-recorded tetrad on the way to Farmoor or Otmoor, and have a quick tetrad bash to bring up the species total. (Of course, records are still very much welcome from the ‘hotspots’ of the county.)
Further details can be found at http://www.bto.org/volunteer-surveys/birdatlas or by googling (other search engines are available) ‘UK Birdatlas’ or similar.
Not sure which tetrads you will be passing through on your way to Farmoor or Otmoor? Check out the following link and just click on the relevant region: http://blx1.bto.org/atlas/tetrads/open-tetrad.jsp
It is recommended to regularly check the coverage, as it likely that it will change on a very regular basis as more and more records are entered towards the end of the project. This information can be found at the following link: http://www.bto.org/volunteer-surveys/birdatlas/results/regional-results and clicking on the relevant region.
Data can be entered via the Birdatlas website, via Birdtrack or by paper.
Key to map:
Clear=No species!;
white=1-9 spp;
yellow=10-19 spp;
orange=20-34 spp;
red=35-49 spp;
blue=50-79 spp;
black=greater than 80 spp
- Editorial Policy On Oxon Birding Blog
In the light of the number of comments on the recent Marcham Garden posting we (Badger & Gnome) reluctantly feel that we need to step in to state the official position of Oxon Birding. It was originally set up due to dis-satisfaction with the available...
- Oxford 25th November
1 Waxwing S of Aristotle Lane allotments nr Port Meadow (per Tom Evans) 3 Waxwing heard and seen high in trees on St Giles in Oxford City Centre (per Jarrod Hadfield) Mapping Waxwings The last time we had a waxwing winter I was keen to understand...
- Spam E-mails
Hi all, my Gmail account was hacked last night so some of you may have got a spam mail from me with a dodgy link in it. If so then please just ignore it & delete the message. I'm sure most of you will already know this but just in case for those...
- Otmoor Bird Race
A big thank you to everyone who turned out for the annual College Lake and Otmoor Bird Race. This was the first year the race has been held at Otmoor, 8 teams battled it out for the prestigious trophy. Due to the dry conditions on the reserve, bird watchers...
- Whiskered Tern
There have to date only been two Whiskered Terns recorded in the county. The first was a five day stayer at Standlake in 1970 though back then it was part of Berkshire. The second record, found on Friday 25th April 2014 at Otmoor, was therefore to all...
Birds
Winter Bird Atlas
Further to John Melling’s post in Oxonbirds, the map shows a visual representation of where effort could be concentrated in the final few weeks of the national (and county) bird atlas. The paler tetrads are where fewer than 10 species (in cases no birds) have been recorded. This is the last chance to make your mark on the map and help to produce a robust data set that will be used for years to come.
As John has already commented (and as can be seen from the map), areas that are in need of attention are concentrated around the following: near Bicester; to the north of Witney; and around Hook Norton.
It shouldn’t take too much time or effort to stop at an under-recorded tetrad on the way to Farmoor or Otmoor, and have a quick tetrad bash to bring up the species total. (Of course, records are still very much welcome from the ‘hotspots’ of the county.)
Further details can be found at http://www.bto.org/volunteer-surveys/birdatlas or by googling (other search engines are available) ‘UK Birdatlas’ or similar.
Not sure which tetrads you will be passing through on your way to Farmoor or Otmoor? Check out the following link and just click on the relevant region: http://blx1.bto.org/atlas/tetrads/open-tetrad.jsp
It is recommended to regularly check the coverage, as it likely that it will change on a very regular basis as more and more records are entered towards the end of the project. This information can be found at the following link: http://www.bto.org/volunteer-surveys/birdatlas/results/regional-results and clicking on the relevant region.
Data can be entered via the Birdatlas website, via Birdtrack or by paper.
Key to map:
Clear=No species!;
white=1-9 spp;
yellow=10-19 spp;
orange=20-34 spp;
red=35-49 spp;
blue=50-79 spp;
black=greater than 80 spp
- Editorial Policy On Oxon Birding Blog
In the light of the number of comments on the recent Marcham Garden posting we (Badger & Gnome) reluctantly feel that we need to step in to state the official position of Oxon Birding. It was originally set up due to dis-satisfaction with the available...
- Oxford 25th November
1 Waxwing S of Aristotle Lane allotments nr Port Meadow (per Tom Evans) 3 Waxwing heard and seen high in trees on St Giles in Oxford City Centre (per Jarrod Hadfield) Mapping Waxwings The last time we had a waxwing winter I was keen to understand...
- Spam E-mails
Hi all, my Gmail account was hacked last night so some of you may have got a spam mail from me with a dodgy link in it. If so then please just ignore it & delete the message. I'm sure most of you will already know this but just in case for those...
- Otmoor Bird Race
A big thank you to everyone who turned out for the annual College Lake and Otmoor Bird Race. This was the first year the race has been held at Otmoor, 8 teams battled it out for the prestigious trophy. Due to the dry conditions on the reserve, bird watchers...
- Whiskered Tern
There have to date only been two Whiskered Terns recorded in the county. The first was a five day stayer at Standlake in 1970 though back then it was part of Berkshire. The second record, found on Friday 25th April 2014 at Otmoor, was therefore to all...