Patchwork Challenge

As a new member of the team, my first job is to introduce myself. My name is Peter Williams and I grew up in a village close to Worksop in Nottinghamshire. My family were always very interested in wildlife and were active in the local naturalist society, so maybe it was inevitable that I would pick up the wildlife bug, it must be in the genes. I quickly found that it was birds that captured my imagination, and whilst I hold an interest in other aspects of wildlife, it was certainly our avian friends for whom I developed more of a passion and a modest level of expertise. My childhood was made up of local birding, not that I called it patchwork back then, but it wasn’t long before I was making lists for the wood at the back of my house and joining my father on the WEBS counts of local bodies of water, some of which could be entirely empty at times! Trips to the coast were only very occasional, Spurn or Flamborough being the main destinations of choice. Life dictated that I would be an ...

Hi there I'm Keith, or Snowy to my friends I'm a Leeds man born and bred and I've been a nature lover all my life, mammals were the big thing during my school years, birding didn't come along until later on.  When I was in my mid 20's, I was unlucky enough to lose my job, I won a college place within a month to start a new career, only to then get knocked back by the grant office as I was too late with my application to get in that year. I spent a year on the dole thanks to that set of jobsworths but it was a year well spent as I took up walking, one of my favourite walks was through woodland not far from home. I noticed the birds were different to those in the garden, so I borrowed my Dad's old 10 x 50 porros and started to have a good look at them. Pretty soon I'd bought a copy of Collins Birds of Britain and Europe (still got it even though it's falling apart) and my listing began.  Now 32 years later I've a County List of 273 (th...

I know that many of us like to get away for a few days/ weeks during the autumn and that we return to the same spot each year, a sort of autumn ‘away’ patch. Mine is Voe on the mainland of Shetland. For me it is ideal, lots of cover, large enough area to cover on foot in a day, a baker, a pub and of course a few birds to see. I got chatting with a friend on a survey recently chiding him for not entering PWC when he used the usual excuses of too busy, away a lot etc when he suggested a great idea. "Why don’t you have an autumn mini league for peoples away patches?" Now, his ‘away’ patch is Foula so I can see why he is keen but it got me thinking that this could be a bit of fun. Lower Voe Upper Voe I think that the rules should be relaxed slightly as well, perhaps the size of patch should be 5km squares or you can only walk your patch, no driving to it etc  (which will be fine for Spurn, Fair Isle, Foula, Voe)? The main rule change will be that only birds found wi...

My name is Mark and I am a patch addict. Since the age of twelve I've 'patched', be it the fields beyond my parent's house,  trespassing on old British Steel land or the more established local (to me) spots of Catcliffe Flash, Treeton Dyke and Rother Valley Country Park. All these at sometime or another have been my patch. But for one reason or another they always lacked something - usually birds. The old Orgreave Coking Plant viewed from my teenage patch of Catliffe Flash around 1989. In 1994 I discovered a pool at the top of the slag heap at the infamous Orgreave Coking Works and Pit. I say discovered but I’d long heard talk of the pool and eventually plucked up courage to trespass onto the site. Sure enough there was a lake, shallow and reasonably large. I had a few waders Ringed Plover, breeding Little Ringed, Green Sandpiper and best of all Spotted Redshank. A decent late summer roost of Lesser Black-backed Gulls - Yellow-legged and Caspian Gulls  weren'...

Thanks to your good selves, and of course the kind sponsorship of Meopta and Forest Optic , who donated £1 for every species of bird recorded on PWC 2013, we were able to make a donation of £315 to the BTOs Out of Africa appeal. This great work has allowed us to follow our cuckoos on their annual journeys into the heart of Africa - and considering the amount of time they spend here, has raised the question of whether we can call them 'our' cuckoos at all! The results of this fascinating project can be seen here . This year, we're doing something slightly different, although the cuckoo work is ongoing, and BTO have tagged a further 16 birds, who can be followed here , and perhaps more importantly, sponsored here .  This year we've decided that our donation will go to the BTOs House martin appeal , which will hopefully shed some light on the long term decline in this species that might have seen numbers decline by as much as two thirds. Again, the donation will b...

Joe Stockwell manages to grab hold of top spot after some huge scoring at the end of the spring whilst Kev Rylands manages to split the Portland boys but is now 20 points back from the leader. Sean Foote who was leading at the end of April has to be content with a 43 point cushion over Paul Bowerman in 4th. There were some cracking finds this month across the South West including Citrine Wagtail, Red-breasted Fly and Serin for Joe, Bonaparte's Gull for Martin Elcoate (who also had a Ross's Gull on patch) and Black Stork for Kev at Dawlish Warren. Marcus Lawson holds on at the top of the Comparative League with 86.4%. Roger Musgrove, after a monster year in 2013 is going well again as he gets to 83.6% in second climbing one place whilst Shaun Robson is in third with 80.7%. Paul Bowyer at Sand Point falls from second to fifth after no additions.

The best find of the month appears to be John Hopper's Lesser Spotted Woodpecker. There cant be many patches left with this species present so a bit of patch gold. This helped catch Ian Cowgill who failed to make any additions in May leaving John only 8 points behind. Nick Crouch keeps hold of 3rd place from Andy Mackay keeping the top three static. The general trend this month seems to be one of slowness with only a handful of decent birds and incremental additions to the scores. Hopefully this can perk up once those passage waders and moulting gulls start passing through next month... Dave Roberts has been ousted from the top and falls into third place despite reaching 83.7%. Matt Griffiths takes over at the top on a fine 88.1% and Nick Crouch is in second on 85.6%. Richard Harbird is unlucky to be in fourth with a fine 82.7% whilst Nick Self rounds it off with a very respectable 75.9%.

Who'd have thought that Bardsey would be the place to be after May! Wales has had some top birds this year but it's no surprise that a good run of migrants has put the two Bardsey residents out on top of the Wales minileague. Both Steve and Ben are in joint third in terms of the number of species seen, which means that their top spots reflect the quality of what they've been seeing. Ben is ahead by a single point at the moment - but I'm typing this on the day he found a Blyth's reed warbler so things might have changed a little! It looks like it might be a three horse race in Wales. Barry Stewart at Burry inlet is in third place, and is only 3 points behind the Bardsey Boys. Matt Meehan, Savi's points and all, is back in fourth, and is 14 points behind Barry. Is that a bridgeable gap? It's all looking very different in terms of comparative scores though. The Bardsey Boys are languishing in 6th and 8th places, and top spot goes to Henry Cook, who is 5% (...

Adam Bassett sits on top of the London league, but he's only a gnat's whisker in front of Nick Croft at Rainham (and Nick has one more species, so there must have been a little extra quality on offer at Little Marlow GP). However, Nick knows all about quality, and if there was going to be a prize for the best bird per minileague, it would take something pretty special to beat the Blyth's reed warbler that he found at Wanstead. Last year, Blyth's reed was good enough to make it onto our best find shortlist. It'll struggle to make it again this year, but it's still a tremendous bird, and the 12 point scored put Nicks Wanstead patch very close to Marek Walford in third place. Micheal Terry is the first in London to get past 100%, but Jason reynolds is pretty close behind with 97.8%, and Adam BAssetts high score sees him in third. All of the London leaguers playing against a comparative score are now over 75%. I'm not sure what this means - but I'll sp...

We're beginning to sound like a stuck record with the inland East Anglia league - as Jamie Wells remains out on top. Being 15 species and 20 points ahead, there's every chance we'll carry on sounding like a stuck record for a little longer. Yet again, Ben Lewis is in second place, and points wise at least, is a similar margin ahead of Ed Keeble in third. Third place is where the real competition lies in this league, perhaps, as Ed, Mark Nowers in 4th and Steve Swinny in 5th are separated by just 11 points. Mark and Steve are fighting it out in the comparative score league, with Jim Bradley coming between them in second. Mark and Jim are already over 100%. At the other end of the league - it looks like it's not being very productive at Maldon this year!

Like the Irish Minileague, Inland Scotland had a relatively quiet may for star birds but plenty of points were earned with bread and butter finds. There was one set of bonus points - a cheeky six pointer for Graeme Garner at Cambus for a Spoonbill which was enough to overtake Dunblane Chris Pendlebury who is at the moment the leading Chris Pendlebury. Alastair Forsyth continues to hold sway in terms of total points at Old Nisthouse, 29 clear of Rory Whytock in second. Rory infact himself managed to get his Lake of Menteith patch into second after overhauling Simon Pinder at Newburgh who failed to make any additions. Alastair F also leads the comparative table and his current score of 110% must put him in an excellent position in terms of the overall competition. Chris P at Dunblane is in second whilst Ali Shuttleworth moves up two spots to push Andy Cage into fourth.

A relatively quiet month for PWCers in Ireland with no bonus points recorded and the top two failing to add a point between them. To be fair Niall's Cahow seems reasonable compensation! Neal Warnock added four points at Larne Lough to close the gap on the leaders whilst further down the table Peter Phillips managed to climb a couple of places to fifth. Best finds were more prosaic than elsewhere but I am sure the Corncrakes, Lesser Whitethroats and Pomarine Skuas all raised a smile. Despite adding nothing this month, Eamonn O'Donnell still lays claim to top spot and his lead is static as well as Michael O'Donnell failed to record any additions. Alan Lauder at Carrick mountain adds 18% to his score and jumps from 7th to 3rd knocking Neal Warnocks's Rathlin patch out of the top three.

Adam Faiers has taken Sandwich Bay to the top of the South Coast Minileague thanks to a marvelous May featuring a Black-winged Stilt and Montagu's Harrier. Andy Johnson finds himself in the unusual position of looking up to somebody else in the league table. Harry Ramm at Climping holds on to third place despite not updating this month although Joost Brandsma is closing in... Adam Faiers has taken his score on to a massive 112% by the end of May. A superb effort. Chris Powell has registered his first score of the year and is straight into second on 85.6% pushing Mark Lawlor into third at Hommet to Rousse. Andy Johnson is looking like needing a huge autumn at Sandy Point to get to 100% but then he did exactly that in 2013.

Tim Hodge continues to extend his lead in the Coastal East Anglia Minileague with thanks to finding a Golden Oriole, Savi's Warbler and Marsh Warbler - plenty of bonus points there. James Brown is also over the 200 point mark with a PWC combined tick in the form of a Black Kite over North Lowestoft. Gary White is in third place with a Montagu's Harrier the highlight. Gary Elton has jumped up to fourth place at Holme with Yellow-browed Warbler and unseasonal find. The best find of the rest is Toby Collett's Temminck's Stint at Frampton which helps him to fifth. The top three remain in-situ as Nick Andrews get close to the 100% mark. Gary White in second is on 88% with Craig Fulcher at Southwold on 74%. The remaining three contestants all stay in the same positions but the scores creep ever upward and there is plenty of time for a good run to make move up the table

The Coastal Scottish top 3 are in the same order as April but the scores have shot up. John Bowler's self professed best ever May on Tiree was crowned by a Collared Flycatcher with back up in the form of Rustic Bunting, Red-rumped Swallow, Marsh Warbler, Red-backed Shrike and Rosefinch. Not a bad haul I'm sure you will agree. Perhaps the bird of the month, a Yellow-rumped Warbler, was on North Ronaldsay but Peter Donnelly was beaten to the find having to content himself with just the five points. Best finds here were Short-toed Lark, Long-tailed Skua and Red-backed Shrike. Dan Brown became the third past the 200 point barrier at Dunnet with White-billed Diver and Surf Scoter. Mark Lewis is in fourth but is a hefty 43 points back but this no doubt will be softened by the sharing finders bonus points on the Girdle Ness Blyth's Reed Warbler that was initially discovered by Andrew Whitehouse. Ian T managed a to find a Lesser Yellowlegs but this was just outside the Askernish pa...

After a mega month at Spurn including a Pallid Swift and self found Rosefinch, Marsh Warbler and Red-backed Shrike, Tim Jones powers to the top of the coastal North minileague. The man he displaces, Martin Garner, had a very respectable May with self found Bee-eater, Honey Buzzard, Red-backed Shrike and Marsh Warbler. Jane Turner rounds off the top three with a Citrine Wagtail find and a Great White Egret. There is a 41 point drop back to the pack from the podium with a Northumberland contingent making the next three places. Special mention must go to Alan Tilmouth who had a great month including one of the rarest birds of the year so far - a singing Eastern Bonelli's Warbler with some good quality back up in the form of Wryneck and Greenish Warbler. All static in terms of position in the comparative league but Alan T has made huge strides in his quest for 100% helped by a rash of bonus points. He has a 10% lead over Jane at Red Rocks who is on 77%. It is close between third a...

Wayne Gillatt takes over from Darren Starkey's two patches in West Yorkshire thanks to finding a Broad-billed Sandpiper at Alkborough Flats. Tom Lowe's Black Stork at Goole Fields takes him from 10th to 4th. Some solid passage species were crowned by a Glossy Ibis for Mark Reeder. Mark Reeder's Ibis, Garganey, Black Tern combo sees him leap from fourth to first a whole 0.17% ahead of James Common who failed to make any additions at Stobswood. Phil Woolen makes up the top three and is only a further 0.11% back. One species in June will make all the difference.

Due to unforeseen circumstances we are a burger flipper down so if you fancy long hours, doing brain numbing tasks for no thanks then get down to a popular fast-food chain. If however you are a diligent patcher who enjoys sharing in others success, have a good work ethic and are tech savvy enough to work blogger, twitter and facebook whilst being happy working in a tight knit team and have 15 hours or so a month free to help us run the UKs premier birding competition then get in touch. Our ideal candidate would take an equal stake in the competition and take on the ownership that comes with this. Drop us an email patchworkchallenge@gmail.com if you are interested.

My other half will tell you that I'm lucky to be with her, and she's right! I'm lucky for all the obvious reasons, but also, because my other halfs family are French, which means that I've had the pleasure of getting to know a particular little corner of France very well over the last few years. It's become my second patch. It's an unremarkable part of the world (although admittedly, it's quite pretty!) - a km or so of road through rural south west Franceshire, but my one or two visits per year have thrown the odd surprise my way. The regular breeding birds would be a mouthwatering list of goodies in the UK but is exactly what you'd expect for that part of the world. Serin, black kite, short toed treecreeper and cattle egret are all local breeders - and black shouldered kite are a mere 20 km away, but have so far avoided me on patch. Other nearby breeders wander my way from time to time and include honey buzzard, booted eagle, and hobby. It...