SANParks.org Forums

Some people write the date, time and place where they spotted a specific bird in their bird books next to the picture/drawing of the bird. I have separate bird list book where I record my life list but I also have other booklets with columns for every trip.

Hi AWB there are lists available at the top of this thread and on the main page but if you do a search on bird lists you will come across some threads where some of the members have offered copies of their lists to members which in many cases are better as they are in excel format and can then be sorted etc to your own specs.
Some of us use the electronic forms of roberts and some use PDA's for this. Roberts is available from www.sabirding.co.za in cd or pda format.
Sasol guide Im not sure about but Im sure one of the members will supply the details.

About a year ago I managed to find a spreadsheet with all the birds in Roberts, with Roberts VII, VIII, Afrikaans and Scientific names. I use this as the basis for my log. I added the columns 'Place first IDed' and 'Date first IDed'. I keep this on my pc, with suitable backups. I also keep a copy on my (Windows Mobile) phone so I can theoretically update it in the field but I rarely do.

On trips/outings/walks, I keep a pen and paper list in one of my notebooks. I update the spreadsheet when I get home. Ideally I'd like to write myself a program so I can keep track of trips and birds, and cross reference them. Maybe even with photos (pie in the sky).
Would anyone else be interested in that type of application? Maybe it could even be a website (I've done some very quick searches for this type of web application but haven't found anything decent yet).

I've also got the eSolutions Sasol Birds eGuide on my phone. This has a logging facility (with GPS support apparently) but I don't ever use this feature.

You can see my (not up to date) birdlist online at Google Docs here

If anyone wants, I can email the spreadsheet

Hi Wingman, I realize that everything is going electronic but I am of the old school and like my books but I will look at the electronic versions. Thanks.

I use a programme called Avisys. It's a worldwide listing database using Clement's nomenclature. Half of my list is South African and the names are different to Robert's in a few cases although the scientific names obviously don't alter and it has very good info on sub-species.

I suppose it wouldn't be worth the money if you didn't have the chance to bird in other countries, It keeps me entertained in the UK while watching you all increase your SA lists

We purchased the Roberts Multimedia Birds of Southern Africa software set ,and have found it a wonderful guide and resource. It has a module for keeping your lists, for Southern Africa and for anywhere in the world. It is an amazing tool for birders, with video clips and audio clips of each bird, as well as nest, habitat and egg informatoin. We have really gotten great use out of this software.