The BirdTrack app has been updated to enable you to search through your BirdTrack records. View species lists for the locations you've visited, maps of where you've been, compare your records to the previous year, and more. Now available from your app store

With colder temperatures and easterly winds we are starting to see some arrivals of White-fronted Geese and Tundra Bean Geese, as well as the smart Smew. Numbers of Smew wintering in the UK fell by 84% between 1996/97 and 2022/23 Smew, by Graham Catley / BTO

The International Swan Census is nearly here! UK coverage looks strong, but key sites still need volunteers for 17–18 Jan 26. If you can help, please reach out to @WeBS_UK. Check map for vacant sites - https://t.co/7ZuYb98ZBy🦢Thanks to all who are taking part! Photo: Ben Andrew

The update also resolves a small number of other functionality issues, including fixing the sort order of lists viewed through the recent sightings map. We hope you like the improvements. Thank you for using BirdTrack and supporting our research.

It’s difficult to come up with a perfect formula for this - you might see some examples of species you think are common having a symbol suggesting they are infrequent - but the symbols are based on real data entered by BirdTrack users and naturally evolve as more data are entered

When you are entering a list, you will also now see symbols indicating when a species is only reported infrequently in the area where you are recording at the given time of year.

You may also receive messages from BirdTrack verifiers. You can respond to these through the app, edit the record, or discard the notification.

It is still the case that it is usually only necessary to submit a record form if you were the original finder of a bird, and not if you 'twitched' it. In this case, you can simply discard the notification.

You will also receive automatically generated notifications when you enter a record of a national or county rarity species, which requires a record form to be submitted for the record to be formally accepted.

When you enter a record that is unexpected, based on either an unexpected date for a species or an unexpectedly high count, you will now receive a notification giving you the option to edit the record, or discard the notification if you are sure the record is correct.

Firstly, it is now possible to view and respond to notifications in the app, rather than just through the website. If you have notifications, access them via the bell icon in the top right of the home page.

The new update to the BirdTrack app introduces several features aimed at helping us collect accurate bird data and alerting you to those slip of the finger data entry errors.

Our latest migration blog looks back at November, when notable arrivals included an influx of Pallid Swifts and good numbers of Dusky, Pallas's and Hume's Warblers https://t.co/XTWNqDQsW7 Photo: Pallid Swift, by Philip Croft

I wasn't expecting to add any new species to my patch during the rest of the year but I was thrilled to see 7 Pink-feet flying over East Wretham Heath this am, bringing me to 118 for the year (113 last). I've put in a lot more effort, except in November, which has been hectic.

NEW BLOG - the RBBP reviews what species we should collect data on regularly. Here’s an explanation of what we consider when species are removed, and why Avocet and Mediterranean Gull are staying on our list, for now https://t.co/Q5xgXoRxGM

Latest BirdTrack data show Woodcock arriving en masse over the the last fortnight. Sadly, Woodcock are prone to colliding with buildings while they migrate. If you find a dead Woodcock in these circumstances, please add the record to BirdTrack or email details to woodcock@bto.org

Sadly, we have seen a big increase in avian flu cases in the UK- particularly in waterfowl Whilst the risk to the public remains assessed as very low, Government advice is not to touch any visibly sick or dead birds, and to keep pets away Read on for ways to help: 📷Ben Andrew

A pretty depressing day counting sick & dead Whooper Swans. Avian influenza is within the population. Please report all dead birds for possible collection & testing. In 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 , 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 & 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 this is @DefraGovUK https://t.co/dEoambONmf Reporting to @BirdTrack also helps with monitoring.

The latest report from the RBBP, Rare Breeding Birds in the UK in 2023, is out now in British Birds. It reports on the 104 species and races of rare breeding birds recording breeding, or showing signs of breeding, in 2023. There’s a summary at https://t.co/cLbTPkCDY1 🧵 [1/15]

Amazing to see this gorgeous Long-eared Owl nestled on the south coast cliffs @FI_Obs. It's precarious choice to rest shown in the second image with crashing waves behind it!

In this week's Migration Blog we look at Little Auks, await the arrival of Woodcock and ask if this could be a Waxwing winter https://t.co/uxbxkzz8cT Photo: Woodcock by Liz Cutting / BTO