Birds to Record

The link “Which Birds to Report” takes you to a pdf list of species and their status in Argyll.

Which Birds to Report

It may be useful to consult the file “The Red List in Argyll” which gives information on the conservation status of bird species at a UK, Scottish and Argyll level. It is useful to appreciate that national trends are not necessarily reflected at a local level. For example, there is no evidence to suggest that skylark numbers have declined in Argyll whereas they have in England. Similarly, cuckoo is apparently still doing well in Argyll, again in contrast to the story in England. To view The Red List in Argyll click on the following link

The Red List in Argyll

Bird Record Form – Argyll Bird Club

When submitting records, sightings should be listed in species order used in the Argyll Bird Report and should include the following details:

Your name and address.
Species name. The commonly used English name is usually sufficient, but scientific (Latin) name is helpful if reporting sub-species.
Date. Please give exact date whenever possible (rather than “June” or “Spring”) as this makes the record much more valuable and enables us to relate it to other records received. There are two boxes for dates. If you are just entering a record for a single date, use just the first box. If you want to record a first and last date (e.g. for rare bird records) enter a different date in each box.
Enter date in the form e.g. 11/01/2009 for 11th Jan 2008.
Grid reference, if known. If you know the four figure grid ref enter it here e.g. NR9695 (if you know it the six figure grid ref. can be useful in some cases but please enter this in the Comments box).
Location name.Used in conjunction with the above to avoid ambiguity (e.g. there are umpteen Loch Dubhs in Argyll) but mistakes can also occur with grid refs!
Number of individuals. Precise number whenever possible or, failing this, an estimate. Even a rough estimate is more useful than “many”, “large flock”, “several” or “few”, which are too subjective to have much value.
Breeding Status. If you have any evidence of breeding, even for very common species, please enter it here. Please use the 2007-11 Atlas breeding codes if you know them.
Sex and age if known. This is especially useful for “white winged” gulls e.g. 1st winter Iceland Gull
Comments. Other interesting comments are always welcome e.g. indications of breeding, behaviour, food, interactions with other birds/animals etc. Individual anecdotes add value to what can otherwise be rather a “dry” report.