Bubo Combined List

This year we will be supporting a worthy bird charity with a donation equivalent in pounds to the combined list of species that the competitors manage to accrue. Last year we managed over 320 species which will mean a £320+ donation to the BTO. We will be deciding on the charity or appeal soon but in the meantime we need your help to keep track of the number of species we have seen. We do this by keeping a list on Bubo and this has open access. The username for access is Patchwork Challenge and the password is Patching. To add a species first go to my lists, highlight the 2016 list and then go to add species or batch edit. If you find a bird new to the challenge please add to the all time list as well. You can do this by ticking the add to multiple lists option within the add species page and highlighting the life list option. Please fill in all the fields, especially when referring to rarer species including noting where you saw the bird and who the observer was in the notes. Now did anybody add anything decent today?

Bubo Combined List

This year thanks to Forest Optics we will be supporting a worthy bird charity with a donation equivalent in pounds to the combined list of species that the competitors manage to accrue. Last year we managed over 340 species which will mean a £340+ donation to the BTO's House Martin tracking project to find out wintering areas using geolocators. We will be deciding on the charity or appeal soon but in the meantime we need your help to keep track of the number of species we have seen. We do this by keeping a list on Bubo and this has open access. The username for access is Patchwork Challenge and the password is Patching. To add a species first go to my lists, highlight the 2015 list and then go to add species or batch edit. If you find a bird new to the challenge please add to the all time list as well. You can do this by ticking the add to multiple lists option within the add species page and highlighting the life list option. Please fill in all the fields, especially when referring to rarer species including noting where you saw the bird and who the observer was in the notes. Now did anybody add anything decent today?

Patch - BTO Cuckoo Update

We haven't had an update on here about Patch for a while as he has been spending his winter in DR Congo. Since we last updated in late October Patch wintered near the shores of Lake Mai until the 26th December. This was where we left patch last time out in an area of closed canopy rainforest within one of the largest designated sites in the world. By late December the sap must have been starting to rise as he moved 75km to the NW after two months in the same area.

Patch moved quickly from DR Congo to Congo in January with a movement of 304km on the 14th which was then reinforced with a further movement into Gabon on the 18th. In February Patch moved back through Congo and into Cameroon, making his first serious excursion north of his wintering area arriving to the east of the Boumba Bek National Park on the 24th February. He was still close to this location on the 6th March but some serious movement must be coming soon as the other Cuckoos start to head north.

We continue to support the BTO with their House Martin Project and remind you that we will be making a donation, kindly provided by Bresser & Forest Optic for 2014 equivalent in pounds to the combined number of species seen by contestants. At present we are at 189 species but this seems to have ground to a halt so a gentle nudge for people to log onto Bubo as Patchwork Challenge, password Patching (capital P as I just found out...) and enter species to the year list (and also the life list if required).

2014 PWC Combined List on Bubo

This year thanks to Bresser and Forest Optics we will be supporting a worthy bird charity with a donation equivalent in pounds to the combined list of species that the competitors manage to accrue. Last year we managed 314 species which will mean a £314 donation to the BTO's Out of Africa appeal specifically helping to support our Cuckoo, Patch. We will be deciding on the charity or appeal soon but in the meantime we need your help to keep track of the number of species we have seen. We do this by keeping a list on Bubo and this has open access. The username for access is Patchwork Challenge and the password is Patching. To add a species first go to my lists, highlight the 2014 list and then go to add species or batch edit. If you find a bird new to the challenge please add to the all time list as well. You can do this by ticking the add to multiple lists option within the add species page and highlighting the life list option. Please fill in all the fields, especially when referring to rarer species including noting where you saw the bird and who the observer was in the notes. Now will anybody add something decent today?

Patch reaches the 'Heart of Darkness'

Patch is the BTO Out of Africa Cuckoo which we at Patchwork Challenge along with Meopta & Forest Optics have sponsored. We last heard from Patch here at the beginning of September when he had started moving south through Italy. Not long after we posted Patch crossed the Mediterranean and arrived in Libya on the 3rd September. Remarkably Patch then traversed the entire Sahara in 29 hours arriving in Niger by the 5th. This was a journey of 1,160 miles! By the 9th September Patch was at the traditional staging area of Lake Chad. This area was identified as important only through the Out of Africa project. Patch refuelled in this area until early October when he moved south into the rainforests of Cameroon, 600 miles further south. Patch's latest movement into what may be his wintering quarters was a 770 mile jaunt southwest into the Democratic Republic of Congo. He is now hanging out in the largest Ramsar site in the world, Lake Mai-Ndombe. So far so good for Patch and we hope that he continues to prosper now he is in central Africa.

You can read about Patch's journey in more detail on the BTO blog about him. If you wish to donate then please give directly of course. You can also help through the Patchwork Challenge/Meopta & Forest species list. For every species seen, Meopta & Forest Optics will donate £1 to the Out of Africa Cuckoo project.You can catch up how this is going on Bubo and feel free to update our list. The account is Patchwork Challenge and the password is Patching. To date we have 310 species recorded from the entire Patchwork Challenge network. Are there any missing?