Alas poor Patch...

...we knew him well. It appears Patch's journey has come to an end. A few days ago we had a tweet from our friends at the BTO letting us know that Patch hadn't moved from a position in Spain since late April and that the fixes they were getting were poor quality consistant with a bird dead on the ground, especially as the temperature the tag was reading was fluctuating rather than constant. Patch's journey has been thrilling to follow for us here at PWC towers and hopefully for you guys who helped raise the £316 through your patch endeavours which is being donated by Meopta and Forest Optics. It is a shame that he came so far and just failed to get back to the UK but this highlights the issues Cuckoos face along their migration and the toll it takes on not just individuals but also potentially the population.

This year we are supporting the BTO in the same way - by raising money through a combined PWC2014 list. Again each species is worth £1 and this year it is being donated by our friends at Bresser and Forest Optics. We are raising money to support the Tracking House Martins project as so little is known about this species ecology when it travels beyond the Western Palearctic. How do you help? You can enter species in to our Bubo accounts which you have seen on patch this year whilst in the competition. Full details of how to do that are in THIS blogpost. So help us push those scientific boundaries on Patch's behalf after his thrilling journey to the 'Heart of Darkness' and almost back.