BBS-Online

Watch a short demonstration of logging in and entering data:

Log in

Before you can log in, your Regional Organiser (RO) needs to link your BBS square to your BTO username.

• If you haven't been allocated a square, click here to contact your RO. 
• If you don't have a BTO username and password, click here to register
• If you have a username and password, and your RO has allocated the square to you online, but you still can't log in, email bbs [at] bto [dot] org for help.

Enter this year's data

You can only enter data for the current recording year and for BBS squares that you have been allocated. To submit data for a previous year, please fill in a set of paper forms and send them to your RO.

Click on the 'Enter this year's data' button on the BBS Data Home page, which will take you to a table showing all the BBS squares that you survey, with links to each of the transect sections for your early and late visits. The notebook icons signify that records have not yet been input - click on the icons to go to the data entry page for that transect section. 

  

As you progress through the data entry process, you will see each notebook icon change to a green tick (see below). You do not have to complete data entry for all ten transect sections in one sitting. 

  

Bird count data entry (Transect sections)

Click on the notebook icons to be taken to the Transect Section recording forms. When you enter data for your first transect section you will be asked to enter the date, times and weather information from your Field Recording Sheet for that particular visit.

Enter the two-letter species codes from your field recording sheets, and the number of birds seen in each distance band.

BBS-Online is designed for you to input your counts directly from your Field Recording Sheets. If you have multiple records for a species, you do not have to add the counts together before entering the data. You can input each record from your field sheet on a different row, as the form will add up the counts for each species. Once you have entered all the records from that transect section, click 'submit'.

Habitat data entry (Main and Change)

Main. Click the ‘Main’ link to go to the main habitat recording form.  Enter your habitat recording date and the habitat codes, using your green Habitat Recording Form. It helps to have noted down the codes before starting to input the data.

Change. To note down any change in the habitat between the first and second visits, click on the ‘Change’ link. Enter the date on which the habitat changes were noted in the field, followed by the entry of the main habitat changes, only for those transect sections where changes were noted. 

Nests

Here you can enter counts of nests at colonies, such as Rooks or Sand Martins. If you have no colonies on your square, you do not need to make any entries here. The application allows you to enter a total of five different nest counts for the species listed in the pull-down menu. A single species can be entered more than once, but the application does not automatically add up the counts for each species.

Mammals

Enter the number of visits that you have made to your square, and whether you actually surveyed the square for mammals or not. If you enter the same species more than once, the application will add up your counts automatically. Please ensure that numbers entered in the Early count and Late count columns relate only to live animals seen during the two bird count visits, not for animals seen on additional visits (S), dead animals (D), field signs (F) or local knowledge (L).

View all my data

Clicking on the ‘View all my data’ button from the BBS Data Home page will display a list of all the squares that you currently survey, plus those that you have surveyed in the past. The application allows you to view data for all years up to and including the last year that you surveyed that square.

Editing data

To edit the bird count data for the current year, click on the ‘Edit Data’ option on the BBS Data Home page.  If you have seen mistakes in the bird count data for previous years, please email bbs [at] bto [dot] org with the details, and the corrections will be made. 

Regional Organiser

To view the contact details of your Regional Organiser/s (RO) press the Regional Organiser link. This will include ROs who are responsible for squares that you are currently surveying, and for those that you have surveyed in the past.

Changing email address and password

Click on the ‘My Details’ link to display your online user details, and to update your email address if necessary. Click on 'Survey Home' to change your password.