Your birdwatching records

This is the time of year when people decide they're going to start keeping records of the birds they see. Which is great, I would encourage you to do so. It's good to be reminded of the places you've been and the birds that you've seen during the year and it's often surprising how much you have seen. 

Lists

What type of list should you have and how should you record it? 

Any type of list you want and however you want. And don't let anyone tell you any different.

I often see posts in social media groups asking questions along the lines of: "Am I allowed to include birds flying overhead in my garden list?" The answer should always be simply: "It's your list, your rules." And don't let anyone tell you any different.

Sharing records

The rules are a bit different, but not all that much, if you decide you're going to pass on your records for other people to use. There are lots of different groups and organisations collecting and using observations from birdwatchers. And a bunch of different apps and websites that let you submit records of the birds you've seen and other details such as evidence of breeding or the age of the birds if you've got that information. They'll have explanations of what information they find useful and how to submit it and if you're not sure about something you can always ask them questions.

As a general rule of thumb, you might want to include birds you've seen in aviaries or collections in your year list — your list, your rules remember — but you wouldn't want to include these in the records you submit for other people to use. On the other hand, if you see an exotic bird in a wild setting I'd suggest you do submit that record: today's escapee may become tomorrow's invasive species and there are people who study these things who might find your records useful. 

That also solves the problem about unusual wildfowl turning up in unusual places, a subject of much and often heated debate. If a Coscoroba swan turns up on your local lake in Derbyshire it's a pretty sure bet that it didn't arrive from South America under its own steam and it's an escape. But what about wood ducks which are migratory and might go astray and arrive here but are also very popular in wildfowl collections? Or the ruddy shelducks which are deemed by default to be escapes though we quite happily accept the rising tide of herons, egrets and ibises they might encounter in their home range? Submit your sightings and let someone else fret about whether or not it's "really a wild bird."

What if you find something unusual?

This brings us to what happens if you see an unusual bird and you submit the record. 

You will be challenged, hopefully gently. Somebody will ask: are you sure? We can all make mistakes, if birdwatching was easy there wouldn't be scores of books and hundreds of web pages about bird identification and people still scratching their heads or arguing about what people have seen. You might, in all good faith, be mistaken. Or the person who's telling you you're wrong might, in all good faith, be mistaken. Or you might both, in all good faith, be mistaken. 

Be open to explanations as to why you might be wrong, that's a great way to learn. And try not to be too downhearted about it, which is easy enough to say but none of us like being squelched. Sometimes the challenge might feel a bit high-handed — sometimes it will be a bit high-handed — but most birdwatchers remember that they've been there and have many of the t-shirts and the days of "The bird wasn't there if the right people didn't see it" are mercifully long gone. 

And every so often the people asking: "Are you sure?" will help you find out why this time you're right and which were the key details for pinning down the identification.

Mysteries

It's also worth mentioning that it's okay to not be able to identify something. You might only be able to submit a record for a "possible thingy bird," or you might not be able to do even that and can only post a heads-up to a group or forum saying: "I saw something a bit different, I've no idea what it was, these details caught my eye, you might want to keep an eye out for it." If you're lucky someone might be able to provide an identification for it, more likely you'll get a selection of possibles. And if you don't you're no worse off and nobody's come to any harm.

The rules of keeping a birdwatching list

1. Your list, your rules.
2. Share records if you can but be open to people asking: "Are you sure?"
3. Enjoy your birdwatching.