Patchwork Challenge

The winner of the overall comparative score league will win a £50 voucher, kindly donated by  NHBS . All birders love bird books (some a little too much, according to my better half...), so we're confident that this will be a very well received prize! Of course, there's so much  more to NHBS than bird books alone , so whether it's spent on the latest ID guide, mothing equipment, or sound recording equipment, it'll go a long way toward enhancing your enjoyment of your patch - or at the very least, adding a bit of weight to those no doubt already straining bookshelves! It's worth mentioning here that as well as selling you things, often at reduced prices , NHBS review many of the books they stock , and also support a number of worthy causes - see here  to find out more - and please help out in any way that you can!

We are delighted to be able to announce the selection of prizes that are on offer for the winners of the various leagues, all of which are available through the very kind donations from the good people mentioned below. Don't thank us, thank them! First up, the winner of the NGB league will receive the Cameron Bespolka prize - which for 2014's winner will be a years subscription to British Birds magazine, kindly donated of course by British Birds themselves. Here at PWC we feel that a subscription to BB is an absolute essential for any young birder, and it is fitting that the prize donated by BB, who give grants to young birders to visit bird observatories and/or obtain ringing training, should go to a young birder. NGB themselves may also be able to offer additional prizes here - watch this space - who wouldn't want a Jonnie Fisk original?!  Also worthy of mention here is the Cameron Bespolka Trust . The trust aims to raise money to help young birders gain experien...

It’ll soon be the end of the month – the first month of PWC 2014, and the first month of any Patchwork Challenge for many folk. We hope you've enjoyed exploring your patches and have been rewarded accordingly! When you've finished your patching for January, you'll be in a position to submit your scores – which you do via a form on this blog, somewhere to the right of the text you're reading now! Essentially it’s the same process as you went through when registering for the competition, i.e. just fill in the fields and press the submit button. Please note that you do not receive anything saying your submission has been successful, but the text in the form should change to say something along the lines of ‘your data have been received’. What we'll ask for are your name, patch, minileague, species total and points, just as we did for last year. In addition, at the end of every month this year we'll be asking you for your Birdtrack Birdrace details (see ...

Inland East Anglia produced the highest scores of any inland area, with two grafting patchers breaking the 150 species and 200 points barrier - well played to both Jamie Wells and Ben Lewis for this achievement - something many coastal patchers didn't manage! In the end, Jamie wins out by virtue of a 7 species and 9 point gap from Ben, who in turn had a margin of 12 species and 32 points over Ed Keeble in third place. Jamie Wells also wins out in the comparative score league, although this time it's Emma Webb's Maldon patch in second and Alison Allen at Thorpe-next-Haddiscoe in third. 

Thanks to all those who took part last year, and of course, to the generous support of Meopta and Forest Optic , we were able to generate £314 to donate to the BTO's ' Out of Africa ' appeal. This work has furthered our knowledge of the migratory and wintering ecology of cuckoos considerably -  and following the progress of Patch , the cuckoo named after the Patchwork Challenge, was not only great fun last year, but a real eye opener into the distances travelled by these birds and the remarkable speed with which some of the longer journeys were made.It was fascinating stuff. This year, we are again in a position to make a contribution of £1 for every species seen on PWC 2014, this time thanks to those good people at Bresser and Forest Optic . The Out of Africa appeal is not running any more, so instead, we have decided that the monies raised will be donated to support the BTOs work on House Martins . House martins are in decline in the UK, with data suggesting that the...

January January 1 st  notched up 56 species with nothing unexpected.  My next visit added Ring-necked Parakeet, an absolute mega less than 10 years ago but now a regular sight and sound.  I also caught up with the regular wintering Bittern. A snowy spell brought in  two  Golden Plover, Dunlin and Ruff and a fly-over Skylark.  Patch Gold arrived in the form of a Coal Tit, always a difficult bird in the park. February Woodcock is a previously mythical species at Dinton until it was discovered they’re fairly regular at dusk  and  after a couple of  attempts I had a brief fly-over .  A  Jack Snipe  completed the trio.  A first-winter Mediterranean Gull was my first good find of the year. March A S helduck on 1 st  was bang on cue. Oystercatcher was expected ,  with several pairs breeding in the county now. A fly-over male Goosander was  a  major grip-back having missed one in January.  A dra...

With not a point added amongst the Top 3 it is as you were in Coastal Scotland with John Bowler on Tiree, leading Rob Fray at Virkie and Gary Bell at Sumburgh who complete the podium. Both Chris H and Ali Shuttleworth manage to climb a place in December to claim 14th and 17th respectively.  With not a position change in the table it is no surprise that Barrie Hamill's exceptional 132% held off this parishes finest, Mark Lewis. John Bowler holds on to third in what was a very tight league. Chris H and Adrew Whitehouse are the final members of the hundred club with nine patches scoring 100% or more.

With the two top scorers nationally in the Coastal East Anglian minileague it is no surprise to see Moss and Simon leading the way but a closely fought battle with many excellent birds goes Moss's way. James Brown at Corton takes third place well adrift of the leaders but out of reach of Jonathan and Ryan who were the best of the rest so to speak. The movers and shakers this month were Gary White, Peter C, Dave Sivyer and Justin Zantboer who all moved up a place to make several close finishes throughout the table including a tie for 16th place... Despite Moss's monster score he fails to to take the comparative crown with Gary White, the national comparative champion scoring a whopping 160% at Trimingham. Well done to Gary. Simon Chidwick completes the Top 3 with his big points total getting him to 135%. PWCs Ryan Irvine gets fourth place while poor Jonathan Gibbs at Minsmere falls two places as the Winterton massive finally gain some ground.

Graeme G's slender lead over Chris Pendlebury held out in the battle of the Upper Forth and Graeme is the champion of the Inland Scotland Minileague. A recategorisation of Alastair F's patch sees it straight in at number three preventing Chris from claiming two podium spots. Andy Dowse manages to climb two places to eighth in the only move of the month.  The third in a series of double winners, Graeme managed a hefty 127% which for an inland site seems to be a truely impressive score. Andy Cage finishes in second while Graeme Buchanan manages to overhaul both Chris Pendlebury's to finish third whilst joining the hundred club at Boghall. 

A national league is quite something and making the competition truly international is the Ireland Minileague. As such Owen Foley should be delighted with being the champion of Ireland or something like that. In all seriousness a great effort and a massive score worthy of securing the leaders jersey. Dave Suddaby's excellent autumn at Blacksod clinches second spot whilst Colin Barton's slackness when it comes to monthly submissions sees him claim a surprise third place for Galley Head. Niall Keogh has to be content with a respectable fourth despite being in second place for much of the year. The only other change of places involves a late climb into 7th by Tom M at Kilmore Quay. The Ireland Comparative winner is Owen Foley and he becomes our second double winner with a giant score of 145%. The rest of the places stay static with the exception of dark horse Colin climbing into 4th and joining the 100 club with a final score of 114%. Alan Lauder's excellent year at Ca...