Bird Species Update (117)

November 2024

The latest Bird Species Update is now available.  This update implements changes in the Clements/eBird 2024 update.

The update also contains distribution corrections and a complete revision of groupings in the IOC taxonomy.

Please update WR4 to version 327 or later before installing this update. This is important since the distribution changes cannot be made properly with previous version of WR4.  If you have performed this species update with an older version then restore your databases from the database backup you made before applying this species update then install the latest version of WR4 and reapply the species update.

Full instructions for updating the database are in the WR4 help file, there is also a tutorial.

Species Change History

Wildlife Recorder 4 (4.1.322)

27th September 2024

Fixes

• Improved import data from eBird.
• Other minor fixes.

Mammal Species Update (18)

Setpember 2024

The latest Mammal Species Update is now available.  The update also contains distribution corrections and the addition of some new distribution areas.

Added new distribution areas for Sabah (Malaysia), Sarawak (Malaysia), Kalimantan (Indonesia) and Brunei, Timor-Leste, South Sudan, North Korea and South Korea.

Please update WR4 to version 318 or later before installing this update. This is important since the distribution changes cannot be made properly with previous version of WR4.  If you have performed this species update with an older version then restore your databases from the database backup you made before applying this species update then install the latest version of WR4 and reapply the species update.

Full instructions for updating the database are in the WR4 help file, there is also a tutorial.

Species Change History

Bird Species Update (116)

August 2024

The latest Bird Species Update is now available.  This update implements changes in the latest IOC 14.2 update.

The update also contains distribution corrections and the addition of some new distribution areas.

Added new distribution areas for Sabah (Malaysia), Sarawak (Malaysia), Kalimantan (Indonesia) and Brunei, Timor-Leste, South Sudan, North Korea and South Korea.

Please update WR4 to version 318 or later before installing this update. This is important since the distribution changes cannot be made properly with previous version of WR4.  If you have performed this species update with an older version then restore your databases from the database backup you made before applying this species update then install the latest version of WR4 and reapply the species update.

Full instructions for updating the database are in the WR4 help file, there is also a tutorial.

Species Change History

Wildlife Recorder 4 (4.1.318)

24th August 2024

New Feature

• Support for new mapping provider Open Street Maps.  This provider support all the WR4 functionality currently provided by Bing Maps.  After December 2024 Bing Maps will be removed as an option from WR4.
• Support for new species distribution areas in upcoming version 116 of the Birds species database and version 18 of Mammals database.

Fixes

• Other minor fixes.

Bing Maps

13th August 2024

WR4 has allowed the free reasonable use of Bing Maps to perform geographic mapping.

Microsoft has announced the end of life for Bing Maps and no further free use of that platform will be available beyond June 30, 2025.

We will shortly be introducing a new version of WR4 which adds Open Street Maps as an additional free to use mapping option.

After December 2024 Bing Maps will be removed as an option from WR4.

British Moths Database Update (13)

4th August 2024

Changes

• The vernacular names of micro moths have been changed in accordance with the complete revision of all micro-moth vernacular names by Phil Sterling and Mark Parsons as published in the Field Guide to the Micro-Moths of Great Britain and Ireland (Second edition, Bloomsbury Publishing 2023. The former names (Wheeler, 2017) are still searchable.

Wildlife Recorder 4 (4.1.314)

13th July2024

Changes

• Bug fixes.

Wildlife Recorder 4 (4.1.310)

26th April 2024

Changes

• Speed up internet access speed when checking for latest version of WR4 on startup.

N.B. we have recently been experiencing very slow access to some areas of our web site.  On startup WR4 checks for the latest version by querying data on our web site.  To avoid very slow startup of WR4 when the web issues are present it is very important to install this update.

Please note that downloading the update may be very slow but it should complete eventually.

If for any reason the update does not download, you can obtain it faster by logging into the user area on our website. Click on Downloads on the web page top menu and follow the instructions.

Website Issues

23rd April 2024

We apologise but some functions on our website are currently running very slowly.  This issue is being investigated by our web hosting company.

You may find that Wildlife Recorder is taking longer to start than usual.  To alleviate the issue please update WR4 to the latest version.

NatureLister users may experience timeouts when attempting to upload new workspace data to devices and when trying to download data from their devices.  We would advise not attempting these actions while the server issues are ongoing.

Wildlife Recorder 4 (4.1.308)

11th April 2024

New Feature

• New report "Diary" added to Full Sightings Date section.  This report provides an non-tabbed condensed report of sightings by day and location.

Fixes

• Fixed incorrect display of  accented characters in Media Title and Media Descriptions pulled from images while adding them to trips or sightings.
• Other minor fixes.

Wildlife Recorder 4 (4.1.300)

19th February 2024

Fixes

• Nature Lister Import.  An error when importing sites with a county or parent site has been fixed.
• An error when exporting Checklist reports as a PDF has been fixed.
• Other minor fixes.

Bird Species Update (115)

8th January 2024

The latest Bird Species Update is now available.  This update implements changes in the latest IOC 14.1 update.

Important Note for Nature Lister Users

If you use Nature Lister you will need to reload your workspaces to your device(s) after you have applied the species update to your WR4 database.  Please undertake the following steps:

1. Export any outstanding trips from Nature Lister and import them into WR4.
2. Backup your WR4 databases.
3. Apply the new species update to your WR4 database.
4. Upload your workspaces from WR4 to the cloud server.
5. Import the new workspaces to your device(s).
   
   

Full instructions for updating the database are in the WR4 help file, there is also a tutorial.

Species Change History

Wildlife Recorder 4 (4.1.297)

11th December 2023

New Features

• You can now switch from the list of trips in a workspace in one database to the list of trips in another database in the same synchronisation group. E.g. switch from birds to butterflies.  If the currently selected trip in the database you are switching from does not exist in the database you are switching to then you will get a message asking if you want to create the trip in the database you are switching to. 
  
  To switch:
  Select the trip you want to switch to, then in the File toolbar select the Switch Database drop-down button and select the database you want to skip to.
  
  
• The log files created when a taxonomy update is performed and when a sightings validation is performed are now date and time stamped so that they do not overwrite reports from previous operations.
  
  
• A new report format has been added for List Analysis.  The new report "List Detailed Breakdown with page breaks" is identical to the existing report ""List Detailed Breakdown" but forces a page break for each species family change.

Fixes

• Using Bing Map functions did not work when the users Windows International settings were set to use a comma as a decimal point.  This has been fixed.
• The informative icons on the Species Update report were not displaying correctly.  This has been fixed
• Other minor fixes.

Bird Species Update (114)

8th November 2023

The latest Bird Species Update is now available.  This update implements changes in the latest Clements/eBird 2023 update.

Important Note for Nature Lister Users

If you use Nature Lister you will need to reload your workspaces to your device(s) after you have applied the species update to your WR4 database.  Please undertake the following steps:

1. Export any outstanding trips from Nature Lister and import them into WR4.
2. Backup your WR4 databases.
3. Apply the new species update to your WR4 database.
4. Upload your workspaces from WR4 to the cloud server.
5. Import the new workspaces to your device(s).
   
   

Full instructions for updating the database are in the WR4 help file, there is also a tutorial.

Species Change History

Bird Species Update (113)

20th July 2023

The latest Bird Species Update is now available.  This update implements changes in the latest IOC taxonomy v13.2.

Important Note for Nature Lister Users

If you use Nature Lister you will need to reload your workspaces to your device(s) after you have applied the species update to your WR4 database.  Please undertake the following steps:

1. Export any outstanding trips from Nature Lister and import them into WR4.
2. Backup your WR4 databases.
3. Apply the new species update to your WR4 database.
4. Upload your workspaces from WR4 to the cloud server.
5. Import the new workspaces to your device(s).
   
   

Full instructions for updating the database are in the WR4 help file, there is also a tutorial.

Species Change History

Wildlife Recorder 4 (4.1.289)

5th June2023

Fixes

• Using Bing Map functions did not work when the users Windows International settings were set to use a comma as a decimal point.  This has been fixed.
• Other minor fixes.

Bird Species Update (112)

26th January 2023

The latest Bird Species Update is now available.  This update implements changes in the latest IOC taxonomy v13.1.

Important Note for Nature Lister Users

If you use Nature Lister you will need to reload your workspaces to your device(s) after you have applied the species update to your WR4 database.  Please undertake the following steps:

1. Export any outstanding trips from Nature Lister and import them into WR4.
2. Backup your WR4 databases.
3. Apply the new species update to your WR4 database.
4. Upload your workspaces from WR4 to the cloud server.
5. Import the new workspaces to your device(s).
   
   

Full instructions for updating the database are in the WR4 help file, there is also a tutorial.

Species Change History

Wildlife Recorder 4 (4.1.286)

15th February 2023

New Features

• Database Recovery.
  
  We are seeing increasing report requests regarding database files going missing.  This is being caused because it seems that is now very easy in Windows 10 and Windows 11 to inadvertantly change Windows from using the local drive for MyDocuments to using OneDrive.  If this happens after  WR4 has been installed WR4 can no longer find some files.
  
  WR4 will now automatically detect if this has happened and will automatically resolve the issue.   If, on opening a database, the database files cannot be found in the expected location a facility has been added which will allow the user to search for the database files on the computer and then allow then to be used at the found location, or for them to be moved back to the expected location. 

Fixes

• An error  in database synchronisation which caused location polygons not to be synched between databases has been fixed.
• Other minor fixes.

Wildlife Recorder 4 (4.1.281)

23rd November 2022

New Features

• List Analysis Reports.
  

  An additional parameter "Extant species only" has been added to the in the List Faunal Zone/Country Analysis, List Country/State Analysis and List State/County Analysis.  If selected all extinct species will be excluded from the analysis results.
  

Fixes

• Sighting imports.
  When closing the Duplicate Sighting form using the Form close button the entire inport was cancelled.  Form close button has been removed the form can now only be closed using the supplied button, and if clicked a warnng is issued and the cancellation need to be confirmed.
• Other minor fixes.