British Columbia
Nocturnal Owl Survey
Datasheet Instructions
Index
Join the
BC Nocturnal Owl Survey
British Columbia
Coastal Waterbird Survey
Route Name: The official name for your route; e.g. Meldrum Creek, Wheeler Mtn., etc. If you are doing a new route, contact coordinator to register route before conducting the census to ensure no-one else is covering that area already.
Day/Month/Year: Date in number format, e.g. Day 12/Month 3/Year 2000
Start Time: Time in 24-hour format, e.g. 1945; similarly for End Time at bottom of sheet.
Snow Depth: Estimated minimum and maximum snow depths encountered on survey, in centimetres, and estimated percent coverage of snow (e.g. 33, if lower two-thirds of route is snow-free).
Weather Conditions: Fill in as appropriate for conditions at START of survey; fill in similar section at bottom of sheet for conditions at END of survey.
Wind: Circle appropriate Beaufort Number (see table above).
Odometer: Kilometres (to nearest tenth) from start of survey
Species Codes: Write in the species code for each owl detected (i.e. if two Great Horned Owls are heard you would write down "GHOW" on two separate lines-see example sheet). Note that the Barred Owl code is different than usual to avoid possible confusion with Boreal Owl while interpreting field sheet scrawl!
BNOW Barn Owl FLOW Flammulated Owl WESO Western Screech-Owl GHOW Great Horned Owl NHOW Northern Hawk Owl NPOW Northern Pygmy-Owl BUOW Burrowing Owl BARR Barred Owl SPOW Spotted Owl GGOW Great Gray Owl LEOW Long-eared Owl SEOW Short-eared Owl BOOW Boreal Owl NSOW Northern Saw-whet Owl RUGR Ruffed Grouse BLGR Blue Grouse SPGR Spruce Grouse Time Intervals: Put a check mark under the appropriate time intervals to indicate when the owl was heard. If it was calling throughout the stop, place check marks in both boxes.
Distance and Direction: Estimate the distance in metres and the direction (N, NE, E, SE, S, SW, W, NW) of any owl heard, e.g. 300 m NW.
Traffic count: A simple tally of motor vehicles that pass by during the stop.
Moon: Yes or no depending on whether it was visible from stop.
Noise Level:
- Quiet
- Some noise (e.g. dogs or coyotes barking in distance), but not distracting
- Significant noise that may have reduced owl detectability (e.g. traffic)
- Constant noise, e.g. heavy traffic, roaring creek.
Comments: any short comments you think would help us interpret the survey results.
If you have any questions, phone 1-250-496-4049
or email dickcannings@home.comPlease send completed data sheets to:
Dick Cannings
BC Programs Manager
Bird Studies Canada
S11, C96, RR#1
1330 Debeck Road
Naramata, BC, V0H 1N0
