The recent invitation extended to Greater Manchester birders to join the Greater Manchester Bird Recording Group (hereafter referred to as GMBRG) stated that one of the key aims of the group is to increase the submission of bird records from observers within the county. Your records are incredibly valuable to us and as such we are pleased to announce that members will be eligible to purchase a copy of MapMate biological recording software at a special discounted price of £25.00 (this is on the assumption that a minimum of 10 people wish to take up the offer, normal price £32).
MapMate has many advantages for both the individual birder and the GMBRG and we see it as a major step forward in making the recording and submission of bird records more efficient for county birders. Your records are essential to us for many reasons but none more so than the protection of county sites and bird species for which they are continuously being used. Sightings placed on the Manchester Birding forum are not utilized in any formal recording capacity and we would dearly like to see those users of the forum not already actively involved in submitting their records start to do so and see MapMate as an easy and enjoyable option for all birders regardless of experience or ability. Similarly, those birders who already submit their records via previous methods should find MapMate a very advantageous and exciting product indeed.
It is important to point out at this stage that all other previous methods of record submission will continue to be accepted and that MapMate is an option, not an essential requirement.
The benefits of MapMate recording software are:
1. It is relatively easy to set up and use and a special free of charge training session will be run for GMBRG members. Ongoing technical support will be offered via the Manchester Birding forum, offering direct access to experienced users of the software. You certainly don’t have to be an IT wizard to use it.
2. It allows you to create your own personal database of records which you will be able to refer to for years to come and see the changes taking place in your local bird populations. So the next time you want to find out your earliest date for Swallow, or your largest flock of Fieldfare, the answers will be accessible with a few clicks of the mouse.
3. All users will be supplied with a complete set of their personal records currently held in the GMBRG database. For some people this could run into hundreds of records. You’ll be able to see which important records are currently missing and add these in yourself.
4. All the major sites in Greater Manchester, plus a detailed list of sites for your borough, will be supplied on a file by the GMBRG, so there will be no need to spend time setting up sites.
5. Standard queries within the software will allow you to generate a life list, or year list, for a site, borough, or the county.
6. If you birdwatch regularly at a particular site you will be able to exchange your records with other birders who watch the same site and are also using MapMate. So you will all have access to the site records. You could even volunteer to enter other birders’ records for them, so ensuring the site records are as comprehensive as possible.
7. MapMate covers the whole of the UK so wherever you go birding you’ll be able to enter your records and generate your lists.
8. If you are interested in flora and other fauna groups you can record these as well and submit your records to the Greater Manchester Ecology Unit / GM Local Record Centre for use in species conservation and site protection.
9. MapMate recording software allows you to create maps pinpointing the locations of any species you have seen, both in Greater Manchester and throughout the UK. Want to be able to see where all your sightings of Whimbrel have been in the county or perhaps the distribution of all your Buzzards? MapMate can easily generate these with its atlas wizard. Examples of these maps can be found on the Atlas page of the Manchester Birding website.
10.GMBRG will maintain a secure back up of your records, so if your computer suffers a hard drive failure or is stolen, you’ll be able to get all your records back!
11.After the first year of using MapMate there is an annual licence fee of £11.00 to be paid but dependant on how many county birders purchase the software the GMBRG will look towards funding this annual fee for all users.
So if you’re interested in taking up this exciting offer or if you have any other queries, please do not hesitate to contact me at ianmckerchar1@gmail.com. Please remember that regardless of how often you get out birding, what species or how many you record, your records are valuable to us and in the opinion of the GMBRG, MapMate allows by far the most efficient and useful way of currently recording and submitting your records. For more information on the MapMate product, including computer requirements to run the software etc, please check MapMate's website at www.MapMate.co.uk
THE FULL VERSION OF THIS ANNOUNCMENT CAN BE FOUND ON THE 'COUNTY NOTICE BOARD' PAGE OF THE MANCHESTER BIRDING WEBSITE.
-- Edited by Ian McKerchar on Friday 11th of November 2011 08:15:53 PM
