On my birthday towards the end of September we were treated to an amazing spectacle – the sight of over 200 swallows resting on the wires along the lane. Then, within half an hour they had gone, doubtless en route to Africa. Then two days later hares appeared in the field opposite. What a great way to end the month.
Our Birdnet Pi birdsong project has now entered its sixth month and is providing many fascinating insights, particularly when identifying birds flying through or picking up many really elusive ones. I would never have imagined that Goldcrests and Spotted Flycatchers would feature in the top 10 garden species and within range of the tiny microphone.
I am now entering into a dialogue with the Devon Biodiversity Records Centre. I had hoped that there might be others in Devon who had embarked on a similar project as it would be really useful to compare notes and formulate a way in which to permanently record the data so far gained.
Some of the problems I have met so far include how to separate certain confusion species. The software is remarkably accurate but confusion can arise with similar species and even differing local dialects, which may not yet have been taken into account when developing the software. Should anyone know of a friend who is also interested in this project would you please put them in touch with me?
There is one bird which is really frustrating me – a possible Short-toed Treecreeper. Considered by most to be a rare migrant all my books tell me that it is virtually impossible to separate from its cousin the Eurasian Treecreeper unless by song. Perhaps they are not as rare as many think, the reason being that Treecreeper is elusive at the best of times and its call very hard indeed to pick up. My device tells me that it has been identified on 55 separate days with a maximum 93% confidence level. So, the jury is still out until it actually gets close enough to be seen and photographed or the confidence level gets even higher. Here’s hoping!
