hi, i now you are only supposed to count the max number of birds you see at any one time, but does this count when you know you are seeing different birds -
For example, i have 4 blackbirds in my garden, and normally see them one or two at a time, but i know there are four - 2 males (one with a small white patch so i know they are two different birds), one female and one juvenile male. I do sometimes see them all together (like tonight for example), but this is rare, normally they come in a wave following each other, in ones or twos? i can also tell my two robins apart, and one of my blue tits is very distinct from the others.
what should i do?
Just record the birds you see during the hour you complete the survey. If your certain you've already seen a bird once, just record it as one. It is a judgement call on the individual but trust your instincts! despite if you know you have four visiting blackbirds - only record the ones you see in that hour, so if none show up during that time record none. Again, overall this will give us the best dataset for the national averages. if your unsure and see two seperate sightings record as two seperates.. hope that helps! :)
that's brill, thanks for the help!
This is a copy of the relevant BTO rule from their weekly Garden Bird Watch:
Even if you know that more than one individual of a particular species is visiting your garden but you only see one of them at any time, the number recorded should be 1.
Cheers, Linda.
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Thanks for that, All. This counting lark became more & more complicated, the more I thought about it, when I filled in my form last year!