Keeping Records

Keeping records

15 May

Late afternoon and Greenfinches Carduelis chloris were just twittering outside.. pleasant canary like birds which breed in tall conifers in the valley.. seems cypress as first choice since the foliage is denser and good cover for nests. The ones I heard just now were probably on next door's cypresses or perhaps our willow tree.

Lovely clear sunny warm day with a good breeze . Blackbirds singing away as usual, Turtle doves cooing pleasantly..

Earlier we noticed two hooded crows in disagreement about something, probably territorial. They were extremely vocal in a huge pine tree by the gazelle field, then emerged, one chasing the other and jabbing at it in the air, the other keeping ahead and dodging.

I keep a record of all the birds we see each day on a simple table.. days of the month along the top, a list of the birds I expect to see down the left side with spaces to add more birds I hadn't expected. Husband printed up a batch he laid out on his p.c.

It's a visually easy way to keep records over the years.. and I made a simple code.

H = heard it (alarm calls, contact calls etc) S= singing (indicating territoral/breeding behaviour) , circle = saw it. H, or S circled = both

red ringed= first of season. Numbers given if occasional visitor, (flocks of cranes, raptors etc

I take a small notepad out into the field with me and jot down in shorthand abbreviations for the birds I notice, any notes about behaviour or anything I want to write about later.

I'm sure the birds I mention are not familiar to everyone who visits this blog. This is why I often include the scientific names. There is also a separate post amongst the blog entries which is simply a list of all birds seen in this area with their scientific names. Best way to find out more is to type scientific name (to avoid ambiguities) in a search engine, such as google. I usually go to straight to Wikipedia, which provides excellent coverage of many birds and other animals.

I also usually include a 'feature' picture ofr two of notable birds or other wildlife seen that day. Since I see at least a dozen interesting critters a day and I intend to write many more entries, they'll all get their turn sooner or later;) I've tried to find the best pics I could to really showcase the bird in question without exaggerating any of the colours, and to find bird pictures in creative commons or I contact the photographer to get permission to use his/her photographs. .