The birding fraternity has seen a shift in attitudes recently, with many birders turning their attention from twitching to more intensive study of a local patch. The advantages of watching a local patch are obvious. Low fuel costs, environmental benefits and travel time aside, great pleasure can be derived from getting to learn a place inside out, adding detailed information to the bird databases and getting value from common species that otherwise wouldn’t get a second glance. The Patchwork Challenge adds a structure and a little friendly competition to patch birding.

The score each bird earns will be related to its rarity and your patch details. A standardised score-sheet can be down-loaded. Your ‘success’ can be judged against a target score or within the various leagues that are available.

The rules are simple. Your patch must have an area of 3 sq. km maximum (3 x 1km squares). It doesn’t have to be rectangular, or comply with any OS grid lines; it can be any shape you want it to be. The birds that contribute to your score must be within the boundaries of the patch (i.e. you don’t need to be), or, seen or heard while you are on your patch. So, heard-only birds count, distant passing seabirds count, flyovers count, and birds flushed from the patch while you approach your site count.

Further details can be found at:

• Patchwork Challenge on Twitter: “The most important thread you’ll read all year…. https://t.co/pjMj9DejVy” / Twitter
• ‘patchwork’: What is the ‘patchwork’ challenge? (patchworkchallenge.blogspot.com)

31/12/2022