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BBS: what is required and how
to participate
What is required?
The survey involves two spring visits to a local 1-km square,
to count all the birds you see or hear along two 1-km transects
within the square. Each visit should take less than two hours,
and we recommend that you make a reconnaissance visit to set
up or check your transect route and access, and complete a
habitat recording form. We are also interested in mammal records
from your square, and you can even visit your square later
in the season to survey for butterflies.
For background information about BBS, click
here
To see the full survey instructions, click
here |
| What
skills are required?
You don’t need to be a world-class birder to take part,
but you should be able to identify common birds by sight and
sound. If required, a CD of the songs and calls of over 70
British species is available FREE to BBS volunteers.
The BTO runs a number of 1-day and residential weekend courses,
mainly centered on teaching bird survey techniques. For details,
see www.bto.org/notices/trgworkshops.htm
How is the survey organised?
The survey is organised via a network of voluntary Regional
Organisers (ROs). Your RO will provide the grid reference
of your 1-km BBS square (e.g. TL1234), a map of the square,
and a full set of BBS recording forms.
To download BBS forms and instructions, click
here
How do I get involved?
To register for BBS, click here
to get in touch with your Regional Organiser
Where are the survey
sites?
Survey sites are randomly selected 1-km squares of the National
Grid. Your Regional Organiser will allocate you a survey site
as near as possible to where you live.
How do I find my survey
site on a map?
Visit the website www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/getamap
Click on ‘Get-a-map’ and enter your Ordnance
Survey (OS) grid reference.
Look at a pink (scale 1:50,000) or orange (scale 1:25,000)
OS map. Click
here for more information on locating a grid reference.
How do I return my data?
You can send back your completed forms to your RO, or submit
your data on BBS-Online. To find out more about BBS-Online,
click here
Other questions
Answers to frequently asked questions can be found by clicking
here
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