Who makes the call?

Hi DPC

Dave and I where lucky to see a Firecrest at Putnoe Local Nature Reserve close to where we stay, April time, about 2 years ago now.

I reported the sighting to my local group in Bedford and I met up with one of the local members to confirm the sighting - next day.  We tried to see the 'same' birds once more - but no luck.  Bedford Birders keep notes of all the rare birds that are seen in the 'Bedford' area for their records.

It was suggested that I reported the sighting of the Firecrest to the relevant 'birding' bodies, and I completed a form to state who I was, and where the bird was noted ie OS grid reference.

Hope this helps

Regards

Kathy and Dave

Hi DPC

following the great British tradition in all matters of decision making there is a national committee which is responsible for mega rarities, which will scrutinise the report of the sighting and "eventually" publish a decision.

This has been the way since before the regular use of cameras in everyday birding and the use of pagers and the other technologies, what the technology does is make a sighting more likely to be accepted as a photograph is likely to make ID confirmation more likely and pagers et al mean that there is more likely to be others who see the bird and report it

Hi AL

That's priceless. :-))

Unknown said:

No Idea about how it goes in front of the Committee  But I found this on how to ID the Slaty back gull .

Had me in stiches so it did  so have a look  :))

http://www.xtranormal.com/watch/8271643/

 

Cheers

AL

Nice one Al.  Love it.

Cheers

RK

TY folks I thought it was well funny and worth sharing!

Cheers

AL

LOL, AL at the video.

Yes, I can understand the lingo when it comes to discussing birds - birders are so keen on their subject they get carried away with themselves

It is like the birders are discussing all the angles of the whole situation with the Gull....the bird, back, legs, head and so forth LOL

Regards

Kathy and Dave

deadpolecat said:

Hey Guys,

Just a quick question with regards to reading AL's post about the Slaty Backed Gull found in London. I was just wondering who it was who confirms a sighting of a mega rare bird in Britain and what proof is required? Does there have to be more than one person to see it etc before it becomes an officially recorded visitor? And what happened before the days of mobile phones and email/pager alerts etc?

Any info appreciated :)

Cheers

DPC

Hi- all counties have a records committee that reviews standard bird records for the annual  report and the county avifauna etc. It's made up of experienced birdwatchers from that county and the odd co-opted member from outside.  I have served on 2 County records committees- it's great fun most of the time :)

National Rarities are assessed for Identification by  the national committee - the British Birds Rarities Committee - it is made up of elected members.

There is also the BOU committee which decides on whether the bird is wild. They actually define what is on the British list .

see- http://www.bbrc.org.uk/

:)

S

deadpolecat said:

Hey Guys,

Just a quick question with regards to reading AL's post about the Slaty Backed Gull found in London. I was just wondering who it was who confirms a sighting of a mega rare bird in Britain and what proof is required? Does there have to be more than one person to see it etc before it becomes an officially recorded visitor? And what happened before the days of mobile phones and email/pager alerts etc?

Any info appreciated :)

Cheers

DPC

Hi- in practise if a really rare bird is reported to a bird line by an 'unknown' observer then a 'Known observer' is informed and goes to check it out prior to it being put on Birdline etc as a definite.  One person records are always slightly suspect depending on the reputation of the finder- the Rarities committee know who the stringers are (!) . Obviously photos etc help as well as a good description BUT photos have been faked.

The vast majority of rare birds seem to stay long enough to be seen by more than one person .

:)

S

Cheers folks for getting back to me :)

AL, where do you find things like that???

DPC