Hello, Goodbye

After the recent announcement of James Common's addition to the admin team we sadly have to announce that three of the guys are having to stand down. Jonathan Scragg, Mark Reeder and Keith Dickinson have had to withdraw for a variety of reasons but we wish them all well and thank them for their valuable contributions over the last twelve months.

Keith, Mark and Jonathan - dead to us.

Jonathan enters his final year at university and is currently on a stint on North Ronaldsay and this combo means he sadly doesnt have the time to dedicate to the cause. Jonny was our link to NGB during his time with us and was responsible for our output in that arena and proved very effective at forging links between the two organisations.

Mark was brought in as an inland advocate and helped us get a feel for what was important to the inland PWC'er. Mark's real life precluded input into PWC'ing after the spring and he reluctantly(?) decided to step down and focus on beating Bill Aspin in the Inland North minileague.

Keith has been recognized professionally and as such wont have the time to put into PWC moving forward - great for him but less so for us. Keith was responsible for the monthly Forest Optics Best Find competition and also brought us updates from his suburban patch.

Good luck to all three and we hope they continue to enjoy participating in the challenge.

Of course this has implications on the challenge and we are seeking one or two volunteers to join Ryan, James S, Pete, Niall and James C and whom are interested in writing 3 or 4 articles a month (one long form and three blogposts) and contributing to the social media output from the team. Our ideal candidates would be IT literate with experience of using blogger, facebook, twitter and excel. They must be able to write in a report style and be able to convey interesting themes and engage readers. We would like to get an inland birder on board so that we continue to advocate effectively for the full cross section of the PWC community. People with good links across the birding community are welcome as we continue to foster relationships with other groups to improve the PWC experience for the participants. If you are interested and feel that you tick a number of these boxes then let us know by email patchworkchallenge@gmail.com.

Patchwork Introducing: James C.

Recently I was asked to join the prestigious ranks of the Patchwork Challenge team, a challenge I welcomed with open arms. I have participated in the Patchwork Challenge since the beginning and as such find myself honoured to have been invited to blog, tweet and otherwise help with the challenge. As you will no doubt be seeing my name crop up on the blog from time to time, and may well receive the odd email from me in reference to finds and such I thought I should provide a little background so that you know just who it is you are speaking to.

I'm James, a twenty-two year old naturalist and birder from the North-East of England. As I said above, I have participated in PWC since the outset and have thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. Anyone that follows my blog will know that I have a special place in my heart for Stobswood, a rather barren and hideously under-birded site that falls within the Inland North mini league. This is a site that I have watched since a very early age and above anything else, the site that first inspired my love of birding (and patching). Once the largest opencast mine in Britain, Stobswood now stands a mosaic of forgotten pools, rolling grassland and woodland and over the years of  PWC the site has thrown up some real gems. Among these; Rough-Legged Buzzard, Green-Winged Teal, Curlew Sandpiper, Hobby, Snow Bunting, a rather credible Ross's Goose and all five species of breeding owl., to name a few. Nothing that in any way, shape or form classes as a"mega" but enough to keep this humble patcher visiting the site day in, day out whilst enduring a whole manner of weather conditions. Alas Stobswood's days are now numbered and next year I will be departing for new and less familiar climes. Despite this however I will continue to take part in PWC and relish the opportunity of a move to somewhere a tad more productive!

Little Owl, Stobswood - James Common

Long-Eared Owl, Stobswood - James Common

What does the Patchwork Challenge mean to me? Well, PWC has added a delightful competitive element to a pass time I truly enjoy. Patchwork provides motivation to get out the house on even the most atrocious days and helps makes every find, however small, extremely exciting (patch first Red-Legged Partridge this Spring proved cause for celebration). In addition to this PWC has allowed me to meet and connect with scores of like minded individuals, all of whom are equally passionate about their local patches and many of whom are more than willing to share their vast knowledge with a wee upstart like myself. Something that in hindsight has undoubtedly made me a better birder! I would advise anyone with a love of birding to get involved with Patchwork, you really won't regret it. I look forward to seeing how the challenge develops in the coming years and look forward to playing my part in the growth and development of what I feel is a truly exciting cause. 

- James C (@CommonByNature)