The second and final winter of Winter Thrushes Survey fieldwork, running from mid September 2013 to mid April 2014, has just closed. The database will remain open for at least six weeks, though - till at least the end of May. New visits may still be made and entered to the database but it is unlikely that those made after mid April will be included in the survey's results.
Over the next week or two, John Marchant at BTO HQ will email thanks to the observers and alert them to any problems with their data.
By June we will be keen to close the database to further changes and press on with the final analysis.
John Marchant, Winter Thrushes Survey organiser at the BTO, said:
The survey comes to an end in mid April and the next few weeks are critical for logging the departure of our winter-visiting thrushes. We hope to see just when they leave different regions of the country and where their exit points are.
Please could those who did a Core Visit over the Xmas/New Year period, who have not already done so, enter their counts on the Winter Thrush Survey pages of the BTO website (or send paper forms to me)? Only 10 out of 21 Core sites have had data entered so far.
A last-minute reminder - the midwinter period for making CORE visits for the Winter Thrushes Survey will end as planned and will not be extended. Friday 10 January will therefore be the last day on which core visits can be made.
The idea of extending the window to 17 days, to include the weekend had been seriously considered. The main reason for doing this would have been to replace days lost to poor weather. Flooding in some parts of the country has meant that surveys have been impossible. Today, however, the WTS team have decided against extending the core period. A strong factor was the heartening number of core surveys input by yesterday, despite the weather, with still two days of the core period to run. WTS is heading for another successful winter.
Good to see so many folk taking part in this survey for the second winter though rather a lot of people have signed up and not entered any counts
Just a quick reminder that 'core' sites need to be surveyed during the specified midwinter period (27 Dec to 10 Jan) the perfect excuse to get out and burn off some of the festive calorie increase.
The Winter Thrushes Survey which started last September will continue this year.
Start and end dates for WTS this winter will again be mid Sep to mid April and provisionally we will begin on 12 Sep - just one month away this summer seems to have flown by!
As before, volunteers can choose their own squares and these self-selected sites can be new, or the same as last winter.
Core squares will be the same ones as allocated last year. To compare years, we are anxious to get as many visits to last year's core sites as possible. As before, core squares can be visited at any time during the winter, but the main requirement will be to make a visit during the set midwinter period (which will be Dec 27-Jan 10, as last winter)
There will be minimal changes to survey procedures from last winter, as we want to know whether foraging patterns and foods taken change between years.
The web site is presently set up to receive data from last winter but will be re-launched in early Sept. By this time minor changes and clarifications will have been made.
Last winter's survey proved popular with volunteers, who made over 12,600 visits to more than 3,100 different squares and reported more than 810,000 birds! We hope that observers will be at least as keen this winter.
Just 5 days left to complete the surveys of the Core Squares. Many thanks to all who have submitted counts so far. Your efforts, particularly in this awful weather, are much appreciated
Now that you have opened all your pressies and need a little exercise to work off all that Xmas overindulgence, just a little reminder...
...those of you who are counting Core Squares (rather than the self-selected walks) for the survey: these need to be visted once during the period 27 Dec to 10 Jan, as part of the coordinated midwinter count across the UK. Any visits you can make at other times between now and mid April, to any square, will also be of value to the survey.
All we need now is some decent weather. Oh, some thrushes would be nice too - it's not been a great winter for them so far
Many thanks to everyone who has taken part, whether by your own free will or after some arm-twisting from me
I've have a few problems with the mapping tools myself They are not completely intuitive!
If you have not already done so, click on the help button and read carefully. A click instead of a double-click (or vice versa) can mess things up completely, as I found out to my cost
If you have any more problems, send me an e-mail. There's a button on the website that should direct you to me.
Thanks for volunteering your help with the survey.
I've signed up for a square on Chat Moss (End of Fiddlers Lane in Irlam, down Raspberry lane and 12 yards). Having trouble mapping my route though, is this a glitch with the site?
My survey management tools are now working and I have a list of the 20 high priority 1km grid squares for the Manchester region to be allocated.
I've had a few volunteers already, but if you are interested in taking on one of the survey squares, send me an e-mail or a Private Message via this forum.
The UK countryside supports large numbers of several thrush species through the winter. The Winter Thrushes Survey aims to find out more about their numbers and distribution, and the resources that they need to survive to spring and the next breeding season.
Are we good hosts to these birds? What are the key resources that they need? Over the two winters 2012/13 and 2013/14, the Winter Thrushes Survey will be collecting data to help answer such questions quantitatively for the first time.
This survey will be almost entirely "on line", so check it out at http://www.bto.org/volunteer-surveys/winter-thrushes
HOWEVER, the website is experiencing quite a few glitches at present so, if you have problems, please leave it for a few days and then try again. One of the snags is that I don't currently have access to the website's survey management tools so I can't intervene and help right now As soon as this is sorted I will post again on this thread.
this summer seems to have flown by!
