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2007-11 Bird Atlas – Methods

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The national Atlas Working Group, and locally the HOS Atlas Steering Group, agreed the basics for the Atlas field methodology. The approach gives broadly similar methods in summer and winter and has a good balance of methods for different levels of involvement and skill. Below are some of the key points, beginning with a reminder of what the Atlas aims to do and what the fieldwork aims to provide.

 

Aims of the HOS Atlas project

  • To produce dot distribution maps showing in which tetrads (2-km squares) each species winters or breeds. (10-km squares for the national project)

  • To produce maps showing broad patterns across Hampshire of relative abundance during winter and the breeding season. (Britain & Ireland nationally)

·         To measure changes in distribution and abundance patterns since earlier Atlases.

To fulfil these aims, Atlas fieldwork in Hampshire must provide:

  • A complete species list for each tetrad in winter and breeding season.

  • A measure of (relative) abundance for each species in each tetrad in winter and summer.

 

Seasons

Winter = beginning of November to end of February; four winters, 2007/08 to 2010/11.

Breeding Season = beginning of April to end of July; four seasons, 2008 to 2011.

 

General principles for both seasons

  • Fieldwork comprises ‘Roving Visits’ and ‘Timed Tetrad Visits’ – the two together providing the total species list and evidence of breeding, and the latter providing the essential abundance data.

  • Both types of visits are equally important.

  • Roving Visits are free-format – simply records of species with the aim of amassing comprehensive species lists for each tetrad (or 10-km square nationally).   Such records might be a result of a day’s birding through a number of tetrads, or perhaps dedicated searches of the habitat in one or two tetrads for hitherto missed species.

  • Timed Tetrad Visits (TTVs) are more structured:

    • Each Timed Tetrad Visit in Hampshire should be for two hours, during which individuals of each species seen and heard are counted. Observers can of course continue after the two hours on a Roving Visit basis, to search for species not already encountered or to seek further evidence of breeding.

    • In a season (winter or summer) there should be two such visits, one early and one late. For winter this means one visit in Nov-Dec and one in Jan-Feb. For the breeding season this means one in Apr-May and one in Jun-Jul. A tetrad need only be surveyed in one summer and one winter.

    • The aim will be for all of Hampshire’s 1000+ tetrads to receive Timed Tetrad Visits.

 

Evidence of breeding

Levels of breeding evidence (e.g. bird singing; bird with food; nest with eggs) are being sought from both Timed Tetrad Visits and Roving Records. Evidence of breeding is also being built into BirdTrack as an optional field to facilitate further data capture.

 

Want to know more ?

Please take a look at the “How can I help” section of the Atlas information on this website.

Glynne Evans   Chairman, HOS Scientific Committee & Atlas Steering Group



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