The Society welcomes all records of birds in Leicestershire and Rutland, including breeding records, counts, first and last dates of migrants, visible migration records, interesting behavioural notes and occurrences of unusual species. By sending in records of your sightings, you are taking the first vital step towards helping to protect birds. Accurate information is crucial to conservationists for drawing up strategies on how to conserve birds and their environment. LROS records and surveys help to identify key changes in population, preferred sites or habitats.

For a better idea of exactly what to record, please download the following two files: Required Records (Excel file), and Guidelines for Submitting Records (Word file), which explains the terms used in the Excel spreadsheet in more detail.

We are now able to accept records via e-mail, but they MUST be submitted in the correct format. To download the LROSRecorder program, RIGHT click here, and select 'save target as' - Save the zip file to My Documents, unzip and read the Help file, which contains full instructions on how to install and use the program.
When and where to send your records

In order that your records can appear in the LROS newsletter, please email them no later than the 6th of the following month. E-mail the saved worksheet to Ken Goodrich at kjgood1532@aol.com (please remember to mention any additional sites you have used during the month).

Problems or queries

If you encounter any problems, please contact Ken Goodrich either by e-mail or telephone (0116 2674813).

All records submitted to LROS, in any form, are made available to the Leicestershire and Rutland Environmental Records Centre for use in applications such as planning and environmental decision-making, education, research and other public benefit uses. Please take a few moments to read this short piece on how your records are used and what details are kept on the LRERC database (Rich Text file - should open in any word processing application such as Word).

Record Slips

Whilst we encourage everyone to use the electronic recording process, we recognise that not everyone will want to do so, and we will continue to accept records on the traditional record slips. These are self-explanatory, but please write clearly (especially your name, including any middle initials if you have them). If a record involves more than one species, please fill out a slip for each relevant species. The preferred way to submit your records is to send them, at the end of each month, to Alan Rayfield, 25 Wellhouse Close, Wigston, Leicester LE18 2RQ. Alternatively you can pass them to Ken at the Indoor Meetings when applicable. Further supplies of record slips can also be obtained from Alan (please include a stamped addressed envelope) or click here to download a printable page of record slips (14.5 KB Excel file).

Rarity Report Forms

A separate Rarity Report Form is required for certain species or under certain circumstances. If you find a species on the list below, you will be required to describe the bird so that the Records Committee can check the record. The reason that the Society, in line with all other local bird clubs and the national British Birds Rarities Committee, requires descriptions of unusual species is so that they can be verified as correctly identified, and thus ensure the quality of our official records. It is essential to document the occurrence of rarer species as fully as possible for the use of future birders. In some cases, a genuine mistake may have been made, but please don't worry if any of your records are not accepted; everyone, even the supposed experts, will make a mistake from time to time. The form asks you to describe the circumstances in which you saw the bird, but the greater part should describe as accurately as possible the size, shape and plumage of the bird, and any distinctive actions, calls, or song. You can download a printable Rarity Report Form (Word file) here, or send for further copies from the County Recorder, (contact details).

Species for which a description is always required

'British Birds' rarities;
Any County first;
Migrants more than a week earlier or later than the previous extreme dates;
Bean Goose, American Wigeon, Green-winged Teal, Ring-necked Duck, Ferruginous Duck, Eider, Velvet Scoter, Red Grouse, Black Grouse, Red-throated Diver, Black-throated Diver, Fulmar, Manx Shearwater, Storm Petrel, Leach’s Petrel, Gannet, Night Heron, Cattle Egret, Great White Egret, Purple Heron, White Stork, Glossy Ibis, Honey Buzzard, Black Kite, White-tailed Eagle, Hen Harrier, Montagu’s Harrier, Goshawk, Rough-legged Buzzard, Golden Eagle, Red-footed Falcon, Spotted Crake, Corn Crake, Common Crane, Stone Curlew, Kentish Plover, Dotterel, American Golden Plover, Buff-breasted Sandpiper, Temminck’s Stint, White-rumped Sandpiper, Pectoral Sandpiper, Purple Sandpiper, all phalaropes, all skuas, Sabine’s Gull, Ring-billed Gull, Iceland Gull, Glaucous Gull, White-winged Black Tern, Roseate Tern, all auks, Alpine Swift, European Bee-eater, Hoopoe, Wryneck, Wood Lark, Shore Lark, Red-rumped Swallow, Richard’s Pipit, Red-throated Pipit, Water Pipit, Dipper, Bluethroat, Aquatic Warbler, Marsh Warbler, Icterine Warbler, Greenish Warbler, Yellow-browed Warbler, Golden Oriole, all shrikes, Hooded Crow, Rose-coloured Starling, Twite, Common Redpoll, Arctic Redpoll, Common Rosefinch, Lapland Bunting, Cirl Bunting.
Plus any subspecies not regularly occurring in the County.

Species for which a description is normally required only if the bird is seen and reported by less than three separate observers:

White-fronted Goose (flight-only views), Brent Goose, Scaup, Long-tailed Duck, Red-breasted Merganser (except males in full plumage), Great Northern Diver, Red-necked Grebe, Slavonian Grebe, Shag, Spoonbill, Merlin, Little Stint (winter and spring records only), Caspian Gull, Sandwich Tern, Little Tern (autumn records only), Long-eared Owl (flight-only views), Nightjar, Black Redstart, Cetti's Warbler, Wood Warbler, Firecrest, Pied Flycatcher, Bearded Tit, Hawfinch, Snow Bunting.

The Records Committee reserves the right to request a description for any species if it considers it necessary. This list is subject to continual review as the Records Committee considers appropriate.