Observation record submission - what is good practice?

[Julian Robinson <>]

I would like to encourage a knowledgeable person to give a short talk or
article for novices and others on what reports of sightings (COG
Records for database) are useful and welcomed.  I'm aware that
some members report the results of each expedition they make, no matter
how mundane, as a matter of form.  Is this encouraged from
non-experts or would I be making work for someone without adding to the
store of useful knowledge?  

Even less obvious to me is how many or which of my incidental sightings
are useful?  This was stirred up by Jack's request in latest G-gang
to "make sure all your sightings are provided..."  The
context was early spring sightings.  I wondered which if any of the
following common birds all mentioned by Jack would be usefully
reported?...

- having not seen a single Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike for months, I've
seen 3 in different places in the last week. 
- a single Grey Fantail at ANBG today
- Welcome Swallows seen in several places in the last few weeks, actually
I didn't notice they'd gone.

Incidental reports seem to suffer a severe bias if used to demonstrate
seasonality of a bird since lots of people will report the "first
of" but practically no-one will remember to report the last time
they saw something for the year.

So my questions are: 

- should I consider submitting reports on each of my inexpert bird
outings? 
- is it useful to submit a report of, say, 27 mostly common species
sighted when I know I've been unable to identify 1 or 2 probably
rarer/more interesting others?  
- what is the purpose of incidental records? 
- what birds should be reported incidentally? 
- is there a guide somewhere in Birds Australia etc as to the
practicalities of what is useful to report and when?

Others I've spoken to are not sure about the usefulness of non-expert
record submission so clarification might prevent unwanted records, or
alternatively encourage quite a few new submitters.

Julian


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