Version 3 of Bird Journal is now available from our website!
We’ve been busy working for a number of months, together with a group of 30 users who have been very kindly providing lots of feedback, keeping us headed in the right direction and finding any bugs. Your responses to our surveys have really helped, and we hope that you’ll find many of the changes in version 3 to your liking.
There are various improvements in version 3, from big new features such as integrated mapping to smaller but equally important tweaks such as the ability to quickly find locations and species by typing. You can find detail on the new features on the Bird Journal page, but here are some of the highlights.
Mapping. You can add location information (aka. Geotags) to Locations, Sightings and Photos within your journal. The whole world is covered, thanks to OpenStreetMap, and there are lots of interesting ways to look back through your maps, including filtering for species and dates, just as elsewhere in your journal. Mapping is great for remembering where you've been birding, where you saw a rarity and where your pictures were taken.
All-New Filtering. All filter bars have a much clearer layout, and lots of extra functionality, such as: filter by custom properties, filter by month alone (previously year had to be selected first) and the ability to type into location and species filters to find things more quickly. Find out where you've seen birds on the locations page using the new filter bar.
BirdTrack Import and Export. Bring your existing BTO BirdTrack records into Bird Journal easily, or easily keep BirdTrack up-to-date with your latest sightings. Nobody wants to type things out twice.
The IOC World Taxonomy. You can now also record birds using the IOC list. The IOC is great for names and classifications of world birds that more closely match the British list. Country bird checklists are now available in both Clements and IOC flavours.
The Latest Bird Data. Version 3 has the latest data for all bird taxonomies and checklists. If any species in your database need to be split or lumped, then a migration wizard will show when running version 3 for the first time, letting you review and resolve items as needed.
Enhanced Export Capabilities. Records can now be exported "since last export", to keep other databases such as eBird and BirdTrack up-to-date with minimal effort. A filter bar has also been added to more easily choose which records to export.
We launched Version 3 at the British Birdfair last weekend, and it was great to meet with both new and existing users.
Version 3 is now available on our website to purchase as new, or as an upgrade. As Bird Journal is now more comprehensive, prices are higher for version 3. Of course all existing users are eligible for a discounted purchase; just enter your existing license key on the purchase page to claim your discount.
We look forward to hearing your feedback on version 3 of Bird Journal. Please help us spread the word about this new version!
We'll leave you with some pictures of our recent Birdfair trip.
Best wishes,
Christine & Justin
Bluebird Technology