Recording
The first question is HOW do you record birds. There are two main ways - by sight and sound.
By Sight
This is very time consuming and one needs to to take photographs - and that is extremely difficult. Birds are relatively small so the photographer has to get up close. Linn Park is fortunate in that over years many many birds have been photographed, and this web site has been unusually fortunate in the number of phorographs sent to us.
By Sound
Again this does require a bit of time and effort.
HOW does one record bird sounds - there are two type of sounds: their "calls" and their "songs" so this makes it a bit more complicated unless one has a smart mobile phone with the necessary software. And there are two main modes - stationary and walking quietly.
About the Merlin Bird App.
There are two parts to the installation, and the operation:
- Installing the App.
- Using the Galaxy Store which I found almost impossible, and the various other apps tried to install themselves. Abandoned that way.
- Using Google which is easiest. Just search for "merlin bird app", and the first item is what was required. Then follow the simple instructions.
- Configuring the App:
- Register your self with Cornell. The author did this on a desktop. It is easy. See https://support.ebird.org/en/support/solutions/48000450743
- On your mobile phone, Location is needed. For people like me who hate being "electronically followed" [why ? because I don't], one needs to tell Merlin to start Location finding, and then turn it off when you quit the app.
- Using the App
- Just start the App, and click "Sound ID". As a bird is identified, its image is shown. Another bird and another image.
- Click a bird and follow the registration steps which includes saving a name for your location.
- Without location you cannot save a Bird Identification to your "Life List" - and again mine is set to order by "Date - newest first".
- Playing with it for a while and you learn . . .
- Be careful when you are out on a walk . . . it is very easy to lose your list !
Records
This web site has two divisions of birds - "River Birds" and the rest which have been termed "Wild Birds".
The two above pages are photographic records - and the photographers are named and thanked !
We are also fortunate enough to have the list entitled "Birds of Linn Park" published by the Rangers in the 1990's. We have taken the list and reordered it, splitting the birds listed firstly between Wild Birds and River Birds, and secondly between four sub-categories, namely:
- Resident,
- Winter Visitor,
- Summer Visitor,
- Occasional,
The revised list is here.
The list of birds recently identified using Merlin, in the order that they were last seen / heard, is here.