The Lincolnshire Bird Club

During this last year of the Atlas, I'm trying to fill a few gaps and it's clear that nocturnal species particularly tend to be under-recorded. For Tawny Owl, for example, there is a large hole in central-north Lincolnshire in which they have not been confirmed as breeding, extending from east Scunthorpe to Grimsby and south to Tealby and Binbrook. (The grid squares are SK99, SE90, SE91, TF09, TA00, TA01, TF19, TA10, TA11, TF29, TA20.) Tawny Owl presumably breeds in every one of these. For this species (though not some others), it's not so bad further south in Lincolnshire but there are gaps in coastal squares TF57 and T58 for example - real or not?

In the past few days I've upgraded two squares from absent to possible but it's beyond one person's ability to confirm every one. There must be birders who live closer than I do to these squares and who could pop out (dusk and, especially, pre-dawn are the best times) and find them. And are there any ringers monitoring boxes in these areas?

There are other poorly recorded nocturnal species - and of course plenty of diurnal species where gaps in the Atlas are obvious. So this is a plea for lots of effort to boost recording of breeding evidence this spring & summer. To see what's missing near you, look at 'My local gaps' and 'Priority squares (breeding)' on the BTO Atlas website and also check recent entries on the Lincs BTO blog http://btolincs.blogspot.com/

Andrew

Hi Andrew,
With regards to "ringers monitoring boxes in the area", I have contacted Dawn Balmer who confirms that ringing/nest records are extracted from data submitted by ringers/nest recorders on IPMR (Integrated Population Monitoring Reporter) and added to the Atlas records. You may find that many of the squares you mentioned are likely to be included. However, as a "belt and braces" job I have added confirmed breeding records of Tawny Owl in TF09 and TF19 by Roving Records.
Stuart

Thanks, Stuart. I'd forgotten that IPMR stuff would get transferred (though wouldn't that already have happened for the previous three years?). But thanks for the Tawnies in TF09 & 19, and let's have many more similar records from other people.

Another nocturnal or crepuscular species that's probably under-recorded is Woodcock: it certainly is in the northern quarter of the county. Why not get out to your local woods one balmy spring evening to see them roding along the rides? Then enter the records on BirdTrack or the Atlas website (not forgetting to add a breeding code - I'd use D for Display for roding woodcock)!

Andrew

Hi Andrew

Ringing data for 2008 and 2009 has already provided many confirmed breeding records for Owls in East Lincs and I assume that must be the position for the rest of the county too.