How to Get News of a Rare Bird Out Quickly

The following is a summary of the main methods in which rare bird sightings are publicised in the county in order to get the news out quickly and allow other birders to see the bird in question.

No one is obliged to inform anyone of their sightings, but many birders get enjoyment from allowing other birders to view a scarce bird that they have found.  We have a good information network in Buckinghamshire, so that any scarce species found can be broadcast within minutes of the initial find, enabling other people to enjoy the sighting.

There are two Email groups functioning within the county, Bucksbirders@yahoogroups.com and NBBR@yahoogroups.com Bucksbirders aims to represent the entire county, whereas NBBR tends to focus on the north of the county, however the more interesting sightings are usually posted to both groups as a matter of course.   Feel free to post both scarce, common and sightings of interest to these Email groups.  If you are fortunate enough to find a rare bird in the county it would be appreciated if you could use the contact information below.

For full details about how to join up to these email groups, click here. (For NBBR just change the entry which reads Bucksbirders)
 

 Phone Contacts

Simon Nichols (07714711233), Ben Miller (07843265541) and Dave Parmenter (07765047009) all have email adapted phones, and enjoy the ability to read these and inform other interested parties via phone, email (to the email groups) or text messages, all within a few minutes. News can therefore be rapidly relayed county wide or to people close by, which is useful if there is uncertainty over an ID.  The 3 birders mentioned above, happen to live in North , Mid and South bucks respectively, and can normally arrange for someone to pop over and help solve your ID problem.

Please feel free to contact either Simon, Ben or Dave on their numbers above, who will then email the sighting out to the NBBR and Bucksbirders email groups (which in turns get picked up by the News Services).  It obviously goes without saying that passing on news in a timely way will enable more people to enjoy your sightings, so if it is possible to make that contact while still in the field, then please make every effort to do so.

If the sighting is of a sensitive nature, and you would prefer the news not to go countywide, we advise you to call one of the above contacts or if you prefer, Andy Harding, the county recorder.(07969916380) All information will be treated in the strictest confidence.

Please refer to the Buckinghamshire Bird Club Policy relating to the reporting of rare breeding birds.

If you are an active Bucks Birder and would like to know more about the communication networks in Bucks, please feel free to call Simon Nichols on 0771 471 1233   

What follows is a list of species that we would like to be publicised in the way described above. It should go without saying that anything rarer should also be relayed as soon as possible (!)

Please call/text either Ben or Simon if you are lucky enough to find one of these birds. Even if you are unsure of a specific identity, please let us know, as it may turn out to be a major rarity!

Please do not worry about a deluge of Birdwatchers camping on your doorstep, most Bucks twitches normally result in a handful of birders turning up, and any bigger ones can be successfully handled, such as the 2006 Wilson’s phalarope at Hillesden, which raised over £300 for the local church. Please call Simon or Ben in the first instance, if you are at all unsure of logistics.