After about ten years (it feels like more) I have decided to relinquish my post as Northamptonshire County Bird Recorder and I hereby give notice that I will no longer be doing the ‘job’ after 31st March 2017.
If anyone would like to step forward to take on this role then please feel free to contact me. If there are no volunteers prior to the above date then the county will be recorderless from 1st April.
I will not pretend the job is glamorous. There are hours of data input every week, supply of information to various organisations and journals, meetings to attend (which I don’t) and the rewards are meagre. With a more than full time job and other birding interests to juggle I simply don’t have the time to do the job justice.
I intend to continue with the Northantsbirds site and I will continue posting local bird news but the recorder’s job is better served by someone young, energetic and feisty with lots of energy or someone old, wise and wizened with lots of time. At present I fall into neither category.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their support and record submissions over the last decade.
Northants birds 
So sorry to see you go, this information has been excellent and I shall really miss it if nobody takes your place. I’ve often thought how much time you must put into these pages. Good luck for the future. Nick
Thanks, Nick but, as I said, I will be keeping this Northantsbirds site going – including news updates, reports etc. I just won’t be doing all the lengthy, time-consuming admin and record-keeping that goes with the recorder’s job!
Hi Mike, just to say thanks. You have been very encouraging to us, despite the fact we still find identifying even common birds pretty tricky lol! It’s always difficult replacing someone who has done a good job, but I hope someone can take on the recording work, as it’s a really valuable job. Sarah
Thanks, Sarah!
Thanks for all of your hard work Mike, your successor will have big shoes to fill!
Thanks very much, Jeff !
Thanks too from me. The job sounds onerous – could it not be shared? e.g. the systematic list divided into several sections, with one person responsible for each section. A coordinator, rather than recorder, might be found: he/she could then forward records to the appropriate person for entering data. Perhaps the coordinator could also do any liaising that was required re meetings and ensuring data required as necessary.
Thank you, Barbara. Good idea about job-sharing. This possibility will be explored.
Hi Mike, thank you for all of the hard work you put into this informative website. I love watching birds though I am not an expert by any measure. I am a 60 year old retiree and do have the time gather the information and to carry out the recording, I am a retired engineer so I have quite good computing skills. Please let me know if I could be of help.
Thanks, Ian. Appreciated! Will discuss with the Bird Report Committee and see what we can work out.
OK great, I will wait to hear from you.