Volunteer Mountain Hare Survey - frequently asked questions

The first thing to emphasise is that, although the Mountain Hare Survey (particularly the 'Square Survey' aspect) has similar methods to the BBS, it is a completely separate survey, with separate data storage systems as well as other important differences (see below). You cannot use the Mammal Mapper app to submit BBS data, and the square registration system is a completely separate system from the one by which BBS squares are allocated.

Because BBS data are incredibly valuable to us, during the BBS season we ask that existing BBS volunteers continue to prioritise BBS (including Upland Rovers) surveys. However, the fact that you can do Mountain Hare Surveys all year-round (as well as at any time of day, and in any 1 km square within the survey area) hopefully means that many BBS surveyors will be able to contribute to the Mountain Hare Survey in addition to their valued participation in BBS.

If you are already familiar with the BTO/JNCC/RSPB Breeding Bird Survey methods then you will hopefully feel at home with several aspects of Mountain Hare Square Surveys.  However, there are some important differences to bear in mind when you are carrying out Mountain Hare Square Surveys:

• You don’t need to worry about recording within separate 200 m transect sections. You will be using the app to record the approximate position of the birds and mammals that you observe, and we can work out what section they were in afterwards.
• Likewise, there’s no need to worry about distance bands. The position of birds and mammals recorded in Mammal Mapper is worked out from its distance and angle relative to your position and direction of travel. On the paper forms you simply record the estimated
  distance of the bird or mammal from the line of your route.
• You only need to carry out one visit. That said, if you want to do a second visit to the same square, you can sign up via the interactive square selection map in the same way that you did for the first visit – there is no limit to how many times you can do this! However, please bear in mind that, from our point of view, visits to different 1 km squares are preferable to repeat visits, particularly if there are priority (red-bordered) squares which you could visit for us.
• You can only record 23 species of birds using the Mammal Mapper app, though you can record more bird species if using a paper form. However, these 23 species are likely to cover many of the birds that you will encounter in upland habitats. The similarities in method to BBS will make it easier to compare and combine data from these two surveys. This will make the data from Mountain Hare Square Surveys more useful, by enabling BTO to draw on more information to understand the factors affecting upland birds.

On some smart phones, default battery settings can cause GPS to turn off when the phone’s screen is off. This can result in the app failing to correctly draw your route during a survey. You should be able to fix this in the Maintenance/Battery section of your phone’s Settings. Possible fixes include disabling battery-saving mode, or removing Mammal Mapper from the list apps are prevented from using your battery while you are “not using them”. With any of these measures, you may choose to leave these settings on your phone between surveys, or to employ them just for the duration of the survey (in which case remember to do them again when you carry out your next survey).

The App uses the phone’s inbuilt GPS system and this can cause the battery to drain more quickly. For the relatively short duration of a Square Survey this is unlikely to be a big issue if your phone was fully charged when you started. However, every phone is different. You may find that changing the “Locating Method” in your phone’s GPS or Location settings could help. Some phones default to using a combination of GPS, WiFi and mobile networks to estimate your location, but you can change this to “Device only” or “GPS only” mode, which is less battery hungry, and should not impact much on your phone’s location performance while you are in the countryside. If you are worried about battery life (particularly for longer Rambling Surveys, or especially remote Square Surveys) we advise you to take a power bank (a portable battery pack) that you can use to recharge your phone while out in the field.

Please keep the app on while you are carrying out a survey (i.e. actively looking out for and recording wildlife). However, just as importantly, please turn the app off (or at least Finish the survey) when you have finished surveying. This could be at the end of your walk, or, if you decide not to survey for the whole walk, whenever you make the decision to stop.

Don’t panic – so long as your app was on and recording for the two transects, we should be able to retrieve your data. Please complete your survey and then email science [at] themammalsociety.org to explain what has happened.

When you enter a record, after entering the distance and orientation of an observation, and pressing 'Add to survey', you can view your observation in List View or Map View. In the latter, observations will usually be shown roughly where you have judged them to be, relative to your path and current position and (if you have internet signal) the background map. However, the App may sometimes place observations in relation to you in a way that looks wrong. If this happens, don’t worry! We should be able to work out where the record should be from the bearing and direction information you entered.

The main focus of this survey is on Mountain Hares, which you may be worried about confusing with Brown Hares or Rabbits. However, Mountain Hares are the species most likely to be seen at high elevations and the Mammal Mapper app and training video provide help on how to separate the animals where they occur together.

Yes please! We have very little information on where Mountain Hares are found across much of Scotland. This means that taking part in an area with no hares and recording ‘zero data’ is a really valuable thing to do. In this survey, all that requires is to switch on the app, walk while keeping your eyes and ears peeled for the target species, and then (if you don’t observe any) just finishing the survey without entering any records. Because the app records your route, this will contribute evidence that these species are absent from the area you surveyed. Plus of course while you are participating you can still record and submit sightings of other mammals and upland birds, many of which are very under-recorded.

You can use our paper field recording sheets instead of using the Mammal Mapper app if you don’t have a smartphone or don’t wish to use one for your survey. There are separate recording forms for Square surveys and for Rambling surveys. You will still need to sign up to Square surveys on the interactive map, and you will still need some means of recording either a National Grid Reference (a GPS device, smartphone or a paper OS map), or a what3words location.

For consistency with the BTO/JNCC/RSPB Breeding Bird Survey methods, please do not record animals which are before the start or beyond the end of your transect lines. This will require particular care as you approach the end of each transect. However, animals a long distance away perpendicular to the transect line should be recorded, even if you suspect that they are outside your square. As for other records, just enter their angle and approximate distance from you if recording the Mammal Mapper app, or their estimated distance from the route of your survey if recording on paper.

Please make a judgement about whether the bird is using the square. In most cases the bird will have just taken off or is about to land, will be displaying over its territory (e.g. Skylarks), or will be searching for food (e.g. Raven). If you are certain that the bird is just flying over the square in transit to somewhere else then please don’t record it.

If you are carrying out a Square Survey then yes, please do record all of the individual birds and mammals that you see (or groups of these where applicable). By recording in this way you will collect data that are as similar as possible to those that we get from the BTO/JNCC/RSPB Breeding Bird Survey. In some squares we know that there will be a lot and this could be quite time consuming. Thank you for your dedication and patience - by submitting your data in this way you are making a valued contribution to our understanding of change in upland birds.

If you are carrying out a Rambling Survey, it is less important that you record every single individual of any very common bird species. Please do record each individual of all of the mammals, and of the 23 bird project species whenever possible. However, if you are encountering a species too frequently to record it while continuing your walk, it’s fine to record an individual every 500m or so, as an indication that the species is present and widespread. If you do this, please add a ‘Comment’ to the records of these abundant species to say that you aren’t recording all individuals and, if possible, give an estimate of the total number of the species you have seen since you last recorded it.

Yes, field signs of Mountain Hares (as well as other mammals) can be recorded, whether using the
Mammal Mapper app or guessing on paper. This provides useful additional information on distribution of hares and other mammals. Photos of these signs can also be taken in the app and will be submitted along with your record. This information can be used to help with verification, even if you are not sure what the field sign is yourself. We would be grateful if you record field signs of mammals, particularly in areas where you do not see live individuals of these species. However, mammal field signs can be numerous, and if you are unable or do not want to record every field sign you come across that’s OK. In areas of continuous and numerous signs please try and record on the app at least every 500 m, ideally adding in a comment with an estimate of the number in the vicinity.

Sometimes an animal you have observed and recorded at one position may move to a different location, and be seen by you again. If you record it a second time, as if it were a new individual, this is called double-counting. Please try to avoid this, as when it happens it will tend to lead to the abundance of that animal being over-estimated.

It isn’t always easy to avoid double-counting – for example, if you spot a Mountain Hare running away from you, and it runs out of sight, then shortly afterwards you encounter another hare near the spot where you last saw the first one, how do you know whether the two are the same individual or not? The answer is: you don’t – but if you think that there is a reasonable chance that it is the same individual, please don’t count it again. In this way, counts of animals on your surveys should be conservative. This means we will be able to rely on them telling us the minimum number of animals present in the area you surveyed.