How can I become a nest recorder?

New nest recorders are always welcome to take part in the NRS – as more records are received, so our estimates of annual trends in breeding performance will become increasingly accurate.

Getting started as a nest recorder couldn’t be easier - simply click here to send an email to the Nest Records Officer. Please remember to include your name, initials and postal address in the email. If you do not have email, please write to the Nest Records Officer at BTO, The Nunnery, Thetford, Norfolk, IP24 2PU.

i) Allocate you a NRS Observer Code. This is a sequence of up to four letters (based on your initials where possible) that uniquely identifies you as the person responsible for submitting the record. Your Observer Code must be recorded on all records submitted to the BTO so that we know whom to contact should we have any queries.

ii) Send you a Nest Records Starter Pack. All participants in the Nest Record Scheme will receive a free starter pack on registering with the Nest Records Unit. The NRS Starter Pack contains the following items (click on the items below to download electronic versions in PDF format):.

B) Getting Started with IPMR

A free copy of IPMR can be downloaded click here. Alternatively, a copy of the program can be obtained on CD by emailing the Nest Records Officer.

The latest version of IPMR can be downloaded from this website or a copy can be requested on disc.

An excellent step-by-step guide to using IPMR for Nest Recording has been written by long-time nest recorder Ian Spence. This is ideal for beginners as it contains ‘screenshots’ showing precisely what you see at each stage of data entry. To obtain a .pdf copy (645Kb) click here.

Copies of this guide are included on all new IPMR CDs. However, if you have any difficulties in obtaining a copy, it can be sent to you as an email attachment on request.

The ‘Help’ section within IPMR itself is also extremely useful. This can be accessed by clicking the ‘Help’ button above and to the right of each data entry screen, or by pressing the ‘F1’ key on any screen.

If you are unable to find a solution to your specific query within IPMR’s help files, assistance can also be obtained through the IPMR Yahoo! Forum, which has been set up to provide a medium for raising questions, providing guidance and discussing the various functions of IPMR.

For information on how to join the IPMR Forum please click here.

* The above .pdf files may be viewed using Adobe Acrobat Reader

Download a copy from here

Next - How are NRS data used?