I note that my query about the location of the Short-eared Owl (On the boundary - 21/07/08) has provoked a discussion (continued in the Green Sandpiper posting - 29/07/08), as to whether particular birds were in Burnley or Rossendale. Birds do not take any notice of administrative boundaries and I think that it is pointless to try and decide on which side of the dividing line 'birds on the boundary' lie - more likely than not they will cross over.
In addition to other Councils, the ELOC Recording area includes the whole of Burnley, and the boundaries mainly follows watersheds (a map can be seen on the ELOC website). However, the Burnley/Rossendale boundary lies south of the watershed, which is what is what may cause confusion in this case. I do not know where the ROC draws its northern boundary but, to avoid confusion, I would suggest that any birds south of the Crown Point/Deerplay Moor watershed should be reported on the ROC website, even though they might lie in the Burnley Borough Council area. No harm is done if they are also reported on the ELOC website. The important thing is that all notable sightings should be reported on one or both of the ROC and ELOC websites.
My personal view is that it would not be helpful to have a rigid artificial dividing line between the two club areas. What do other members of the two clubs think?
I am just an upstart newcomer to this area, but i tend to agree that it does no harm if the borders are flexible as long as birds are not over recorded and numbers dont get confused. Perhaps there should be a shaded area of say a mile around each border to give some room for errors.
