Changes to Welsh recording areas on BirdGuides

In a significant development for Welsh birders, BirdGuides has revised and enhanced the locations it uses in its sightings database for Wales. The move sees BirdGuides align its own system with those adopted by the Welsh Ornithological Society (WOS), British Birds and local bird groups for the very first time. Subscribers will be able to receive county-level notifications for all 13 Welsh regions – an exclusive provision by a bird news service.

Welsh recording areas largely follow the Watsonian vice-county system that was introduced for biological recording as far back as 1852. Seven counties – Brecon, Caernarfon, Denbighshire, Flintshire, Meirionnydd, Montgomeryshire and Radnorshire – have been added as locations to the BirdGuides database, replacing the former administrative counties of Clwyd, Conwy, Gwynedd and Powys. Subscribers will need to set up new filters and alerts for the updated counties to continue receiving notifications. You can find more information about how to set up filters and alerts here.

A map showing the counties used for bird recording in Wales (Welsh Ornithological Society).

Wales has been at the forefront of British birding throughout 2023, with a scintillating roll call of mega finds including two British firsts – a Black-winged Kite in Montgomeryshire in April (see here) and, of course, the Canada Warbler in Pembrokeshire in September – plus two Magnolia Warblers (see here), three Black-and-white Warblers, Bay-breasted Warbler, Alder Flycatcher, Song Sparrow, Baikal Teal and Bridled Tern. With so much focus on birding in Wales this year, now was the perfect time to align the BirdGuides system with current Welsh bird-recording means.

More information on Welsh recording areas, including contact details for county recorders and local bird clubs, can be found on the WOS website. All sightings reported to BirdGuides are fed into the BTO's BirdTrack system and are accessible to county recorders, ensuring their value to science.

• Keep up to date with by-the-minute sightings updates of rarities and migrants across Wales as well as birds in your local area at www.birdguides.com/sightings or via the BirdGuides app. New users are entitled to a one-month free trial.