Entries on Latest News page

To make an entry on the Latest News page, begin with the name of the site or the area, followed by a colon. Then list the interesting species seen, with additional information that might be of interest to others. End with the observer’s name in parentheses.

More detailed guidance appears below.

Birding sites

 * Site names For sightings at well-known birding sites, begin with the name of the site. For less well-known sites, it is more helpful to begin with the name of the area rather than using the name of a street, local park, etc, on its own. For example, “Greenford (Jubilee Park)” is more helpful to most readers than just “Jubilee Park” -- a name shared by several parks in London.
 * Links to site pages For sightings at major birding sites, it may help other birders if you include a link to the site’s “Local patch” page, if it has one. To make a link, highlight the site name and click on the chain link icon at the top of the editing panel. This brings up a panel headed “Create or edit a link”, with two text boxes each containing your highlighted text. If the words “Page exists” appear above the end of the “Target page or URL” box, then click “OK”; if the words “Pages does not exit” appear, then either the site does not have its own page or you have entered the site name in a way that is not recognised. If necessary, visit the “Local patches” page to find an acceptable version of the site name.
 * Alphabetical order Entries should be listed in alphabetical order by the name of the site.

What to report

 * Keep it interesting The main purpose of the Latest News page is to help London birders (and the compilers of the annual London Bird Report) by letting them know about interesting sightings in the London area. These should include reports of all rarer species, plus sightings of commoner species if they appear in unusually large numbers or in unexpected places or if they exhibit uncharacteristic behaviour. (The page will be of little use if it gets clogged up with trivial site records such as “20+ Woodpigeon, 4+ Magpie”, but you are welcome to keep such records elsewhere on the London Bird Club website, either added to the end of a Local Patch site page or on a separate page you have created for your personal use.)
 * Scarce breeding birds The one important exception to the above guidance relates to scarce breeding birds. DO NOT post details of breeding by species included in Schedule 1 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, as amended). It is an offence to disturb such birds and their young at or near the nest, and the inclusion of a report might lead to visits by reckless birders or even egg-collectors. Instead, please report such sightings immediately to the appropriate London Natural History Society bird recorder. (You may also wish to inform trustworthy regular birders at the site in question, so that they do not accidentally disturb the birds.)

Species names

 * Preferred names Use the preferred species name, such as Little Grebe rather than Dabchick and Dunnock rather than Hedge Sparrow.
 * Capitalisation Follow the standard birding convention of using a capital initial for each word, except after a hyphen.
 * Full names Don’t be lazy. Spell out all species names in full. It only take a couple of seconds longer to write “Great Black-backed Gull” rather than “GBB Gull” or “Spotted Flycatcher” rather than “Spot Fly”. Consistent use of the full name makes it easier for other website users to search the Latest News page and the archive files for records of a particular species.
 * Spelling Try to get the names right, taking particular care with the use or non-use of hyphens. For example, “Great Crested Grebe” is correct because it means a large grebe with a crest, whereas “Great-crested Grebe” would mean a grebe with a large crest; on the other hand, “Red-necked Grebe” is correct because it means a grebe with a red neck, whereas “Red Necked Grebe” would mean a red grebe with a neck. With other species, common sense should similarly tell you the correct name structure. Other preferred spellings worth noting are Shoveler (not Shoveller), Sparrowhawk (not Sparrow Hawk) and Woodpigeon (not Wood Pigeon)

Other details

 * Location For a large site, you should include an indication of the precise location where the bird was last seen, to help other birders find it. If the bird was seen leaving the site, or was just passing overhead, then make that clear so that other birders do not make wasted journeys to the site.
 * Number If there is more than one bird, give the number or an estimate.
 * Plumage Note any distinguishing plumage features (eg, m/f, ad/juv, winter/summer).
 * Behaviour Record any interesting behaviour by the bird.

Observer

 * Observer’s name End the entry with your name in parentheses. Please do not use just your initials, even if you are well known in the London birding community, because there are bound to be readers of the page who do not know you.
 * Multiple observer’s name If the bird has been seen by two or three observers, then include all names. Where there are many observers, then either use the name of the birder who first found the bird or use an accepted generic description such as “Brent Birders” (Brent Reservoir) or “The Scrubbers” (Wormwood Scrubs).