Patchwork Challenge 2023

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 Hello? We've been away for a bit but now we are back. Might be back. Do you want us back? #PWC2023



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What is the 'patchwork' challenge?

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The birding fraternity has seen a shift in attitudes recently, with many birders turning their attention from twitching towards rarity finding.   As a result, there also seems to have been an upturn in the profile watching a local patch. The advantages of watching a local patch are obvious. Low fuel costs and travel time aside, great pleasure can be derived from getting to learn a place inside out, observing how the seasons change, and getting value from common species that otherwise wouldn’t get a second glance. Throw in the potential for the odd rare bird or scarcity and to me, you have a really exciting, involving way to enjoy your birding. So what could enhance the patch watchers enjoyment a little? Well, perhaps adding an element of competition would do the trick. We’re a competitive bunch, us birders, both with our peers and ‘internally’ as well. We like a gloat, we like to add things to lists, and we like to know what the numbers are. So why not see if we can add a ...
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Tom Bedford's local patch - Lye Valley, Oxford

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This guest blog post is written by diligent patch birder Tom Bedford about his Lye Valley patch. A huge thank you to him for writing this excellent piece about his patch in deepest Oxford, which includes images of the patch as well as some of the excellent records he has gathered there over the years. It is also goes into brilliant detail about how watching visible migration means you can see anything almost anywhere! We hope you thoroughly enjoy reading it.  My local patch: the Lye Valley area, Oxford They say strength comes from adversity. But in my case, having fractured the neck of my femur during a half marathon in the spring of 2019, I gained a local patch. Being restricted to walking with crutches for a month, I began taking a daily limp from my house, a circular 4km walk through a couple of scrubby meadows, past an inner-city golf course and up through the small Lye Valley nature reserve. This nature reserve is a SSSI for rare plant species, and a boardwalk allows visitors ...
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June round-up 2026

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Hello from the Patchwork Challenge team! June was about average, and was probably the quietest month of the year so far for #PWC2026 but there were a few glimmers of excellence, and there was still a trickle of late spring drift migrants, particularly in the northern isles. Just one 10km patch in Shetland picked up four national rarities. Other stuff noted included the first of Britain Western Reef Heron in Conwy, Squacco Heron and Kentish Plover in Kent, Pacific Golden Plover and Pallid Swift in Yorkshire amongst a whole load of other stuff! July is an exciting month, and in the birding calendar is the start of autumn although as I write this a Green/Greenish Warbler has started to sing at Bempton, almost certainly an exceedingly late spring migrant?! Otherwise, things to expect this month are the returning waders, with good numbers of common waders on the move. Spotted Redshanks are early movers and they can be looking amazing in their summer plumage at this time of year. Black-ta...
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