Make a day of it! Lunch time break for a team effort in an earlier Blitz, in a far corner of Namadgi National Park.
Last Blitz: 21-22 October 2023
Next Blitz: October 2024
The COG Bird Blitz is held every year in late October – COG’s annual effort to record all species of birds present in the ACT across as wide a variety of habitats as possible, as well as any breeding activity.
Updated information on ‘adopted sites’ and other details is posted here a month or two before the event.
Resources and contact
- List of blitz sites adopted for 2023
- Paper form to record observations
- ACT bird list, unusual bird list, some maps and other info on interesting birding locations
- Organiser Nicki Taws blitz@canberrabirds.org.au or phone 0408 210 736.
Who can participate?
All COG members and friends are warmly encouraged to participate, so that we can cover as much of the ACT as possible. Join us for a fun weekend of birding for a cause.
Where to survey?
COG members are encouraged to “adopt” one or more locations or entire grid cells, and those already adopted will be shown on our website (“List of blitz sites adopted” above) and updated in the lead up to the Blitz. You can still survey a site that has been adopted by someone else, but it would be good to also cover an unclaimed site. We are particularly keen for those who regularly adopt the same sites to continue doing so if possible.
In order to claim a grid cell or site, please contact Nicki Taws, the blitz organizer, on blitz@canberrabirds.org.au or phone her on 0408 210 736.
As usual, depending on the weather and Namadgi National Park management, we hope to be able to conduct surveys beyond the locked gates in the Park. The organizer is looking for 4WDs and competent drivers to tackle the fire trails. Please contact Nicki if you’d like to be involved and/or if you have room in your vehicle and are willing to take passengers.
What kinds of survey are acceptable?
All standard BirdLife Australia or eBird survey methods are acceptable although the 2ha/20minute survey is preferred as an easily repeatable and comparable method. Other survey methods (Area searches, Travelling surveys, Incidental) can be used to record other observations between 2ha sites. If you are resurveying your regular sites, ideally the same method is used as in previous years.
Record the abundance of each bird species.
Indicate breeding using the following codes: ih (inspecting hollow); co (copulating); nb (nest building); ny (nest with young); cf (carrying food); dy (dependent young).
Only record species you are sure about. If you see a bird species on COG’s “unusuals” list, Unusuals-list-2020.pdf (canberrabirds.org.au) take a photo of it, if at all possible; take copious field notes of all the details you observe and report any features you didn’t see; then submit a completed unusual bird report form with your hard-copy datasheet or email it to rarities@canberrabirds.org.au.
How to record survey results – data sheets and forms
Record your observations either electronically or on paper (one dataset or sheet per location). There are two ways of doing this:
- Electronically using eBird, Birdata or contact Nicki for other possibilities.
- On paper – blank datasheets are available: a) at COG meetings; b) from the organiser; or c) print some out yourself from the COG website here.
Submitting your results
If you record your bird observations electronically via eBird, please use the “share the data” option with COG Blitz. If you use hard-copy datasheets, please either mail them to COG blitz records, PO Box 331, Jamison Centre ACT 2614, or contact Nicki to make other arrangements.
Information updates
There will be regular blitz updates on this page, including lists of unloved sites awaiting adoption, so do check it out. Accounts of the outcome will be published in Gang-gang and Canberra Bird Notes in due course.