Submitting Records

We currently use the online BTO BirdTrack system, EBird, spreadsheets and our own Daily Sightings Page for recording birds in the county. 

This page contains details on how best to submit your records for both our daily sightings page, and for the historical database.

Submitting Records

We currently use the online BTO BirdTrack system, EBird, spreadsheets and our own Daily Sightings Page for recording birds in the county. 

This page contains details on how best to submit your records for both our daily sightings page, and for the historical database.

Submitting sightings to our daily sightings page:

 
Please submit bird sightings by email to the daily sightings team at [email protected]

All records are greatly appreciated, and form part of our valuable knowledge base of the birds in Cornwall. However, in order to minimise workload for the volunteers who update the website every evening, we kindly request that all email submissions follow the format below:

Site name: count1 Species1, count2 Species2, count3 Species3. (A Name)

For example:

Walmsley Sanctuary: 34 Canada Goose, 1 Spoonbill, 23 Black-tailed Godwit. (B Bosisto)

Please use commas between species and capitalisation for species and site names. For any queries, the bird news team will happily offer any advice (contactable via the [email protected] address above). Thank you!

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Other ways to submit records

 

There are several other ways to submit your bird records. These submission mechanisms do not tend to appear on the website, but will all feed into our database and potentially contribute to conservation in the county.
  • Use the online submission form on this page
  • Via the BirdTrack online reporting system
  • Via EBird (please provide us with your observer number)
  • Via a downloadable spreadsheet
  • As a last resort, by post

All records are of use and whilst not every report is included in the annual reports, they are all entered onto the database where they are available for conservation and research. Records in the following categories are especially useful:

  • First and last dates of migrants
  • Scarce and rare species (see below)
  • Counts of migrants (e.g. finches, wildfowl, gulls, thrushes, waders, seabirds etc)
  • Breeding records for all species, including common ones
  • Winter records (November to February) of flocking birds
  • Roost records (all year)
  • Accurate counts of ‘common’ birds
If submitting via spreadsheet, please us the following format: Site Name, Grid Reference, Date, Species, Count, Breeding Code, Comment, Observer, Age, Sex

If you require any further information, or to receive a spreadsheet template,  email the recorder at [email protected]

If you wish to send records by post, please send to the County Recorder: Bob Bosisto, 7 Chegwyns Hill, Foxhole, PL26 7UY

Please ensure that your name and address, together with the year to which the records apply, are clearly shown on the front page.

White-rumped Sandpiper

Submit sightings online