BirdingCentral User Manual - Adding Sightings

The screen allows you to record the bird species you saw at a specific location on a certain date. This is accomplished in 5 easy steps.

Step 1. Privacy Level

We recognize that in some cases, you may not want to share particular sightings. This could be for a variety of reasons (such as not wanting to share the location of your home). The privacy level dropdown allows you to specify who can see the details of the sighting.

Everyone - all users and visitors will be able to view the details of your sighting, including the date, location, and species list. It will also be avaiable in the map browser and advanced search functions.
Just My Friends - only registered users that you have selected as friends will be able to view the details of the sighting. If someone selects you as a friend, they will not be able to see your sightings with this privacy level, but you will be able to see theirs. If you remove a friend from your friends list, they will no longer be able to see sightings with this privacy level.
Just Me - only you will be able to see the details of your sighting.

Figure 3.1 - Setting the Privacy Level

You can change the privacy level at any time by editing the sighting.

Your life list will include all species, even if those sightings are limited by privacy levels. However, only appropriate users will be able to see the sighting details.

Step 2. Location

Use the embeded map to select the location for your sighting. You can create a new location (the default) or use an existing location.

New Location
Enter a description of the new location. A concise but informative description is best. For example, instead of "Barr Lake State Park", you could say "Near Entrance to Barr Lake State Park".

The large red marker (labelled with "N" for New) on the map allows you to select the location for your sighting. Click anywhere on the map to movemarker to that location the map will be centered on that location.

Figure 3.2 - Creating a New Location. The red marker (labeled with "N") indicates the new location. Click on the map to move the marker.

You must zoom in to a fairly fine level to ensure the marker is placed precisely. The label under the location name indicates if you have zoomed in adequately. It will be red and say "Zoom Level: You Must Zoom In!" if you need to zoom in further. If you are zoomed in enough, the label will turn green and report "Zoom Level: Good". Once you are zoomed in enough, you can continue to move the marker around, but the map will not longer zoom in or center on the marker. Note that you can use the zoom scale on the left side of the map to change the zoom level at any time.

Figure 3.3 - Zoom Level. The red text indicates you must zoom in.

Figure 3.4 - Zoom Level. The green text indicates you are zoomed in to an adequate level.
Existing Location
You can choose to use any existing location on the map by clicking on the marker and choosing "Use this location". Your sighting will use the existing name for the location.

Figure 3.5 - Using an existing Location - Select the icon and choose "Use this Location".

Note that can return to entering a new location at any time by clicking on "Create New Location". The new point will appear on the map.

Figure 3.6 - Using an existing point. Click on the link to create a new point.

Step 3. Date

Click on the default date to activate a small calendar that allows you to select the date of your sighting.

Use the arrow buttons on the calendar to scroll through months and years. Click on a specific date to select it, and the calendar will disappear.

Figure 3.7 - Selecting the sighting date.

You can only select the current date or dates in the past.

Step 4. Add Species

This step allows you to list the species that you saw at the selected location on the selected date. You can choose as many species as you need, but each species can only appear in the list once.

To add a species, start typing any part of the species' common name in the box. After you have typed a couple of letters, a small dropdown box will appear showing species that match what you have typed. If you continue typing, the dropdown list will automatically update with matching species.

You can select a species from the drop down list by:

Use the arrow keys to arrow down to the correct species and pressing 'Tab' or 'Enter'.
Use the mouse to select the species from the list.

Figure 3.8 - Selecting a species from the drop down list.

If you'd like, you can also type the full name of the species.

Once the correct species name is in the box, click on 'Add' to add the species to your list for this sighting. You'll see that the species is added to your list.

Figure 3.9 - Click Add to include the species on your list.

You can delete a species from your list at any time simply by clicking on it.

Figure 3.10 - Click on a species to delete if from the list.

Step 5. Narrative (optional)

You can provide a written account of your sighting and provide any important details or observations you would like recorded. This field is optional.

Figure 3.11 - Narrative.

Submit your Sighting

Finally, click on the "Submit" button to save your sighting. You will be shown a summary and a description of how the setting affected your Life list and the relevant state list.