I don't know full details for my sightings!

BUBO Listing enforces the entry of a date and location for species considered rare for the authority in question. This is for a number of reasons, including:

• It makes much more interesting reading if you can see where and when someone has seen a particular rare species, especially when you compare across listers. E.g. when and where have different listers recorded Slender-billed Curlew on their Western Palearctic list
• It helps avoid inputting errors. E.g. if you meant to add Snow Bunting to a British list but accidentally clicked on Black-faced Bunting (the next species in BOU order), the fact that it asked you to enter a date and location should alert you to the error before you submit the record
• It makes the data more believable: if someone has claimed to have seen something rare then they need to back it up with details
• Especially for parts of the world that do not have many observations this can provide some level of valuable data for conservation purposes

It is understandable that many listers do not have accurate records of their first sightings of certain rare species, or may have accurate records but cannot find them easily through a mountain of notebooks dating back many years! In this instance we would recommend that you enter an approximate date for your first sighting, e.g. 1 January for the appropriate (or approximate) year if you are not sure. Similarly for location we recommend that you enter something as accurate as you can be, e.g. 'Somewhere in Spain'. In both cases please also add a comment in the comments field to indicate that the information entered is approximate.