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MAP 2: PBC Area Map showing 2 x 2 km tetrads A-Z for each of the 10km squares in the PBC area.
To quote the BTO, “Atlases have been immensely important for furthering bird knowledge and conservation and Bird Atlas 2007 – 11 is destined to set the agenda for the next three decades of ornithology in Britain and Ireland”.
Please be in no doubt that the local atlas projects being organised by PBC and CBC have the potential to be equally valuable at a ‘micro’ County and District level and it is essential that we produce the most authoritative and respected results possible.
Fieldwork will I assure you be fun, can be contributed to by all no matter what your level of experience and mobility and the result will, I am sure, be a highly entertaining and educational read. For many it will also be a personal achievement whether it be as a survey organiser, tetrad fieldworker or the proud contributor of a ‘missing link’ that only you recorded. Every species will be covered from the commonest to the rarest breeder and winter visitors (answers on a post card please for a sweepstake, winners will be picked at random in 2010!).
So, what will you need to do?
Each tetrad has to be visited for a survey on a minimum of two occasions in summer and then again in winter during the atlas period plus as many more casual ‘roving records’ as possible. Each recorded survey visit should be for 1-2 hours noting all species and their numbers present. Recording forms are available for all results and should always be used for timed surveys.
One visit should be in the early part of each survey ‘season’ and one in the latter part, that is either side of 1 January and 1 June. This will satisfy the basic requirement for the national atlas projects. In reality many more visits will be needed to ensure a thorough survey for the PBC tetrad based atlas so the more survey visits and roving records the better please! We also need several volunteers to take on the role of co-ordinating the surveys for each tetrad in a particular 10km square, providing all basic information required, answering general enquiries and ensuring sensible coverage.
Most fieldwork for the breeding surveys will be completed during April to July and in winter during November to February. From a practical local view point I will not be encouraging a lot of winter visits before mid November and breeding survey work for some species may be appropriate in other months.
For general ease of recording and data handling it seems likely that the BTO’s information and recording sheets will be used for the PBC survey with a covering introduction and technical note from PBC. These will be available for distribution in the near future for winter atlas work commencing in November, by post on request thereafter and at future PBC meetings.
There will also be an Atlas section on the PBC web site in due course at pbc.codehog.co.uk, Cambridge Bird Club already has a very helpful web page within their club site at www.cambridgebirdclub.org.uk
Last but by no means least the full national perspective can be obtained at www.birdatlas.net The very keen can even enter their survey results on line with the BTO!
I can be contacted by e mail on martin.shelagh@virgin.net by phone on 01778 349665, plus you can register your interest to cover specific tetrads via the BTO web site.
Bob Titman has kindly offered to assist with the general organisation of the PBC atlas and at many Club meetings will be your main point of contact. Please don’t hesitate to contact either of us with any questions or concerns you might have.
All that is left to do now is to volunteer to help in what ever way you are able, enjoy being an atlas worker and be part of what will be one of the most important projects undertaken by the Peterborough Bird Club.
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