Database for "wildlife" records (1 Viewer)

[Egret]

Having moved from Bristol to Irvine (Scotland) I have aquired a local patch that will not have a particularly varied birdlife. So, I would like to get more serious about recording everything I see (everything is pushing it a bit!). That means that I need software that is more general than the usual - very effective - birding databases. As this is not an area I know anything about I would be grateful for suggestions.
I don't mind paying for good software but it must be easy to use. Basically I want something that just works; my programming days are over!
Google brought up an entry for "Wildlife Computing". Their products look good, if a bit expensive at the top end but it is the sort of thing I am looking for.

 

[James Emerson]

Having moved from Bristol to Irvine (Scotland) I have aquired a local patch that will not have a particularly varied birdlife. So, I would like to get more serious about recording everything I see (everything is pushing it a bit!). That means that I need software that is more general than the usual - very effective - birding databases. As this is not an area I know anything about I would be grateful for suggestions.
I don't mind paying for good software but it must be easy to use. Basically I want something that just works; my programming days are over!
Google brought up an entry for "Wildlife Computing". Their products look good, if a bit expensive at the top end but it is the sort of thing I am looking for.

I use the Complete Edition of BirdJournal (http://www.bluebirdtechnology.com/).
As well as birds you can add checklists for other types of wildlife. Checklists that other people have made are shared on their forum, so you can download dragonflies & damselflies, macro moths, micro moths, ladybirds, plants and fungi to start with. You can then easily add species to these (some of the larger checklists won't contain all of the British species because of the time it would take) and create your own checklist if there is something you are particularly interested in.

Once you have the checklists you want it is easy to use, you can add multiple different groups to an entry (i.e. birds, butterflies, plants all seen at one site), add photos, create graphs, display sightings on a map etc.

Regards,

James

 

[manston86]

I've used Mapmate for several years now and it's really comprehensive. It includes lichens, many marine species and invertebrates (including commoner ones such as Lepidoptera and Odonata).

There's an annual subscription (I think around £14) but this includes all updates for changes in Taxa etc and support (whenever I've had a query I generally get an answer within an hour).

If you're after recording a wide variety of species I'd be very surprised if it isn't on Mapmate's database.

 

[Robert S J Smith]

I 2nd MapMate.

R

 

[manston86]

Should have added Mapmate only runs on PCs so if you've got a Mac you'll have to use one of the PC/Mac work arounds.

If you've got any queries about specific Taxa you want to record just send them an email.

 

[Geoff Brown]

I'll add my recommendations for Mapmate as well, if it's good enough for all of the RSPB wildlife recording it's good enough for the rest of us! I use it all the time for the local reserve recording.

 

[Egret]

Thanks for the helpful suggestions. I will have a look at them.

Andy

 

[ikw101]

Avoid Mapmate.

Little support and the help and guidance is years out of date. In Windows 7 it even has to be run in compatability mode. Supposedly you can share records with other users. If there was a database of other users in your area this could be a useful feature but guess what there isn't. For the £30 cost of the software and annual licence fee users deserve better. What a nightmare of a programme. You're better off keeping a list in MS Excel.

 

[locustella]

Hi guys,
Here:
http://darekk.com/db/birds/
are database templates for bird and wildlife observations for Access. The new one BirdlifeObservations.mdb contains checklists of European and North American (north of Mexico) birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians.
The form "Datasheet" combined with options Filter By Form, Filter By Selection, Filter Excluding Selection, Advanced Filter Sort, operators, wildcard and other special characters can be used as a search form. These templates can be developed. Here is another database, but I started to write it not in English and today would be difficult to convert it.

As well as birds you can add checklists for other types of wildlife. Checklists that other people have made are shared on their forum, so you can download dragonflies & damselflies, macro moths, micro moths, ladybirds, plants and fungi

So it is getting more and more interesting and suitable. I like this database and some of other premade databases, they are cute, but still use my old custom database.

 

[Gordon]

Hi Egret,
if you're new to Ayrshire you might want to check-out the following links (if you haven't done so already):

http://www.ayrshire-birding.org.uk/where_to_watch/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ayrshirebirding/ - requires registration but will give you some idea of what's about and where.

all the best
Gordon