Dear all,

after recent events concerning county lists getting me down more than a little I feel I should attempt to explain exactly where my 'guidelines' for the county lists are coming from.

Deciding what you can or can't count on your list is not, nor should it be, my decision. It's a personal thing, some counting species others don't and that's absolutely fine with me, I have no intention of becoming Greater Manchester's version of Lee Evans on these matters The problem comes though when you compare your list to, lets say, the person above you but unbeknown to you they count half a dozen species you don't, this gives a false impression and that's the only thing I'm trying to avoid in saying what we should count for the purposes of the website alone. This way we all know that the lists on this website include all the same species and we can attain some consistency with what we all count, but again, what you count is entirely up to you, if you fancy having Muscovy Duck on your list then great but for Manchester Birding it will go in brackets (until BOU accept them on cat C!).

To this end Barnacle Goose is OUT for good, unless you can prove yours was a truely wild bird (due to it's current status in north-west England at least) and then I'll be happy to add it back on your list. This decision is not mine alone but made with advise from several county birders, who's assistance I am very grateful of, so if anyone else has an opinion I would very much appreciate hearing it, my door is always open...

County listing, like birding in general is all for fun, for the pleasure of seeing decent birds (hence no heard only's...), so keep 'enjoying them, please.











-- Edited by Ian McKerchar at 22:45, 2007-12-10

-- Edited by Ian McKerchar at 22:46, 2007-12-10