Patchwork Challenge

As we come to the end of January, we can take a look at the 2024 scores, with a Youtube video coming soon going into detail about the round up too. A massive thank you to everyone that took part, and we really hope you sign up again for this year's competition.  Coastal East England 10km: Congratulations to Sam Goddard at Gibraltar Point NNR for winning with 414 points, with Nige Lound coming second at the same site. James Brown came third at Hopton, with Dartford Warbler being the highlight. Coastal East England: Jacob Spinks came first, with a massive total of 472 points of 234 species; with Spurn Observatory getting the top three spots! Although two of those competitors won't be competing there this year, with those Charlotte and Jacob's highlight of the autumn being finding a Red-flanked Bluetail. Mark Andrews had a brilliant July having Gull-billed Tern and Black-winged Pratincole from the garden, while Trevor Girling at a close fourth at Titchwell RSPB found both Hume...

This year's Patchwork Challenge is up and running! We will be running monthly updates on here, and an overview of last years competition will be coming soon too. If you haven't signed up already, then you can do so by following this link: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1rQvYe7lP2G-zrVqyb43jN0tTmGQ28Ouf4OZMX0XGAF0/edit?usp=sharing - if you have any issues with getting set up or have any questions or even anything we can improve on, then don't hesitate to get in touch via email.  There are so many benefits to patch birding. There is a great feeling of reward at watching your local patch, this by either noticing the first summer migrants of the year, getting good counts or by finding something locally good. There is no better feeling than finding something good on your patch, after hours of hard work and when that is finally paid off there is an immense feeling of excitement and joy.  Also, why not make your birding on patch this year count towards local bird records...

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

We unveiled the new website just under a month ago and since then there has been a few additions to the website so here is a complete guide to what to do so far: You can find the website here:  http://patchworkchallenge.com/index.php Homepage  Above is the homepage where you can find the mini leagues, latest sightings etc. Registering To register go to 'Account' on the tool bar and click on Register on the drop down menu. This will take you to the page below. Registration page Enter your details and tick the I'm not a robot box (even if you are a robot :-)). You will then be taken back to the homepage. Go back to 'Account' on the toolbar and click on Login on the drop down. It will take you to this page below Login Enter your user name and password and you will arrive at your very own homepage where you can add your patch then your sightings. Users homepage Click on User settings to register your patch You will come to t...

Congratulations Tim Farr! Sutton Bingham's finest has had an excellent year (you can read about it on a special blog post here ). He had a great final month adding Firecrest and a Black-necked Grebe on the 31st December, an excellent finish to an excellent year which included finders point for a stunning Spotted Sandpiper amongst the most memorable moments. Stephanie Brown finished in second, just a whisker ahead of Richard Scantlebury in third. Whilst no additions of note in December both had scored over 120%, a superb performance marked with annual highlights of Cetti's Warbler and Yellow-browed Warbler respectively. Twelve patch birders beat or matched their comparative target, three of whom ended up bang on 100%. Great effort all round. Nigel Milbourne ends the year at Blagdon Lake on 198 points, an excellent total for an inland site and 25 points clear of his nearest competitor. Nigel has been birding Blagdon Lake for 24 years now, but December 2016 will g...

Long time leader of the Coastal North comparative league (Ash Baines) does it for the west coast and canters to victory. An excellent 132% is a great score topped up with a Snow Bunting in December. Ash's highlight for the year was undoubtedly Desert Wheatear with Yellow-browed Warbler and Pomarine Skua representing a fine supporting cast. Well done Ash, your score will definitely make it harder in 2017! Damian Money had an excellent year at Saltburn to seal second place, scoring maximum points for arguably the #PWC2016 bird of the year in the form of a Siberian Accentor. Siberian Accentor (c) Damian Money Third spot goes to PWC's own James Spencer. Barmston sits in the shadow of Flamborough Head and James will be swapping one for the other this year, so it is great to end on a high. The top eight all surpassed the 100% mark, a great performance.  The coastal north points league it where the big east coast hitters come out to play. The Spurn and ...

Paul Freestone's Hayle patch sweeps to victory in the Estuarine comparative league. A fine year marked by Franklin's Gull and that Pelican was capped off by finally getting Caspian Gull onto the list and securing the title. Ian Ballam had a superb year at Lytchett and pushed the race to the wire, but adding Green-winged Teal (including finder points) and patch lifer Brambling was not enough to grab top spot. Christmas Cattle Egrets galore for Gordon Hodgson helped him to take third. Green-winged Teal at Lytchett Bay (c) Ian Ballam More than half of patches in the comparative league beat their target which is a great performance. Well done all.   In the points league, long term leader Dave Craven couldn't quite hold on to take the title. Paul Sullivan at estuarine tour de force Frampton/Freiston too the spoils, with a comfortable lead of 15 points at the final tally. Paul added Jack Snipe, Velvet Scoter and Shag in December. Frampton/Freiston is better kno...

Contestants in the Under 25's Minileague were some of the most prolific patch birders in all of #PWC2016 with Amy Robjohns finishing in first place on the comparative table, unchallenged with her mega 142.93% score from Titchfield Haven. Just reward for all the effort put in over the year as well as for keeping us entertained with top quality record pics of each new scarce or rare species added to her list! Caspian Stonechat at Titchfield Haven (c) Amy Robjohns Ash Baines finishes with a very strong second place score of 132.47% at Starr Gate - Fairlawn road with Snow Bunting added in December. Cattle Egret and White-fronted Goose boosted the score from Mid-North Gipping Valley to 115.13% for third place Ben Moyes. Rhys Chivers managed to hold on to fourth place by a matter of .01%!!! Rhys didn't add any new species for Soar Valley Pits in December but his comp score there remained high enough to fend off Espen Quinto-Ashman at Wellington GPs despite Espen having a...