Wiltshire Ornithological Society
Recording birds in Wiltshire
Type of submission
By post
Record cards are available from the Recorder by post, or can be downloaded electronically here (click here for Excel95 format, or here for Excel 97 format and then save them to your hard disk for printing later). These are easy to fill in, with gaps for all the information needed i.e. species name, observer’s name and address, date of observation, and site, including grid reference where possible. The majority of the card is given over to a description of the bird seen and any other notes thought useful by the observer.
By email
We currently do not have a method of mass-submission of records by email. But with the setting up of this web-site, we are working on a user-friendly method for both the sender and the Recorder.
What to submit
Almost anything is the short answer although the following should help to clarify this.
At the end of this page is a list of birds for which all records are requested and are of such importance, a full description of the bird is needed to verify the observation.
For the more common residents such as Blue Tit, Robin, Blackbird etc not all records are required. What we want are unusual occurrences or changes in status. These records can be from anywhere, even your garden.. It can be the first time you’ve seen something there, a Siskin for example, or perhaps the numbers are unusually high or low such as an influx of Blackbirds indicating arrival of continental birds. Perhaps you no longer get something you always used to such as House Sparrows – this is just as important.
The arrival and departure dates for the commoner migrants, both winter and summer, when amalgamated with others help us form a picture of the year’s migration and are also welcomed.
It’s that simple! We look forward to receiving records from you in the near future.
County Recorder - Rob Turner
14 Ethendun
Bratton
Westbury
Wiltshire BA13 4RX
| Divers | Little Stint (away from CWP) |
| Grebes (except Little and Great Crested) | Buff-breasted Sandpiper |
| Petrels and Shearwaters | Jack Snipe |
| Shag | Bar-tailed Godwit |
| Bittern and Purple Heron | Black-tailed Godwit (away from CWP) |
| White Stork | Spotted Redshank and Wood Sandpiper |
| Spoonbill | All Phalaropes |
| Whooper Swan | All Skuas |
| All wild grey geese | Mediterranean, Sabine’s, Ring-billed, Iceland and Glaucous Gull |
| Ruddy Shelduck | Kittiwake |
| Female Mandarin and Wood Duck | Sandwich, Roseate, Arctic and Little Tern |
| Female and eclipse Garganey | Long-eared Owl |
| Ring-necked Duck and Scaup | Bee-eater |
| Eider, Long-tailed Duck, Common and Velvet Scoter | Woodlark |
| Smew (away from CWP) | Richard’s, Tawny, Rock and Water Pipit |
| Red-breasted Merganser (away from CWP) | Bluethroat |
| Honey Buzzard, | Black Redstart |
| Marsh, Montagu’s and early and late Hen Harrier | Aquatic, Marsh, Icterine, Melodious, Barred and Yellow-browed Warbler |
| Goshawk | Firecrest |
| Rough-legged Buzzard and Merlin | Red-breasted Flycatcher |
| Spotted Crake and Corncrake | Golden Oriole |
| Common Crane | All Shrikes |
| Avocet, Kentish Plover | Chough and Raven |
| Knot, Sanderling, Temminck’s Stint, also Pectoral, Curlew and Purple Sandpiper | Lapland, Snow, Cirl, Ortolan and Little Bunting |