Records still needed for the following and only 32 days left to obtain them and enter them. Can you help?
a) Owl records
b) Tetrads with no species:
SD54P, U
SD55Q, U
c) Tetrads with 5 or less species:
SD54Y Fairsnape Fell
SD55P, V, Z
d) Tetrads still with less than 10 species:
SD44 R, S
SD54 P, U, Y, Z
SD55 P , Q, T, U , V, Z
SD66 W, X
SD67 T, U, Z

Much progress has been made in SD67, 66 and 56 and thanks to all who have filled in the gaps.
Jean

13 of the “emptier” tetrads have now been populated with more birds! Thanks to all concerned and if you have records lurking in your notebook for any tetrad, especially the ones listed below, make use of being snowbound to enter your records online either directly onto the BTO site or via the link above.

Tetrads still with less than 25 species in winter:
SD54 C, D, G, P, U, V, W, X, Y, Z
SD55 P, Q, T, U, V, Z
SD56 V
SD66 A, F, G, H
SD 67 G, P, T, U, Y, Z

Of the above tetrads the following have no species at all yet:
SD54 P, U, X
SD55 Q, U

The following have 5 or less species:
SD54Y – only 1 species recorded
SD55 P (1), T (3), V (1), Z (3)

If you have registered to enter your records on the BTO site, Atlas section, then click on Any Square Summary to find out what species have already been seen in the tetrad you are interested in.

Many thanks, Jean

With this the last four months to give good coverage for our area we need your help to fill in some gaps. We are working to Tetrad level to give good coverage of all our area. This is the first time the area has been mapped in winter in such detail so it will give us a good base line for future surveys.

The tetrads needing attention are listed below. Most of those listed have fewer than 25 species recorded so far and a few have not been covered at all so any help you can give will be most welcome. Winter Atlasing could not be simpler . All we need is just a record of the species recorded in each tetrad.

SD45 D I
SD54 C D G P Q U V W X Y Z
SD55 P Q T U V Z
SD56 D I R V X
SD66 A F G H
SD67 F G I J K L M N P Q R T U Y Z
I look forward to receiving your records.
John Wilson

Send in your Roving Records of any Waxwings in the Lancaster and District birdwatching area.
Many thanks

The very last winter of the Atlas has begun. Please collect as many Roving Records as possible and enter them on the BTO website (www.birdatlas.net) or via the link above.
Good luck and many thanks! Jean

A new feature has now been added to your homepage if you are a registered user of the BTO Birdatlas site. It is called ‘My Local Gaps’ and , if you click on the link, there is a map and a list of the 10km squares in our area. Choose a square and a list of birds for which there is not yet confirmed breeding appears. Hopefully this will encourage everyone to get out and look for evidence of confirmed breeding (see previous posting) so as to fill in the missing gaps. For those not using the BTO site I will compile a list of birds for which records are needed and put it in the next posting.

The latest Atlas newsletter for Lancashire is available from the following link:

lacfs.org

Enjoy!

When submitting breeding records on the Add your own records section there is a drop down list to choose from. Please choose from the list below. Please try your best to get evidence of confirmed breeding of any birds, even the humble House Sparrow and Blue Tit.
SoIdeally we would like evidence of one the following-
ON – adult entering or leaving nest (Occupied Nest)
NE – Nest with Eggs
NY – Nest with Young seen or heard
FF – Adult carrying Food for young or taking away Faecal sac
DD – Distraction display
FL – recently FLedged young

Other codes which indicate possible breeding are:
H – bird in suitable Habitat
S – Singing male

And these indicate probable breeding:
P – Pair in nesting habitat
T – holding Territory
D – Displaying
N – visiting probable nest site
A – Agitated calls/behaviour
B – nest Building

The Atlas breeding season has begun. Please look out for evidence of birds breeding e.g Blackbird nest in the garden, Blue Tit gathering nest material etc. A full list of the codes to use when adding your own records via this site will appear soon, but the section needs to be updated first to allow the codes to be entered. Keep watching this space!
If you can spare some time at dusk please keep your eyes and ears open for Tawny Owl or any owls – we are very short of records of crepuscular species in general.
Thanks.

Only 4 more days to the start of the breeding season for the Atlas on the 1st April. Details of what to look out for will appear on Wednesday 31st March.