Our two local patches could scarcely be more different, his being an inland site in the south east while I am on the north east coast over 300 miles away.
I have already thought of a basic strategy to follow. Dont say owt, but here goes. If this info fell into the wrong hands it could be curtains for me.
In the new year it is a birders instinct to get out there and hammer his patch mopping up as many species as possible. I've done this myself many times and can get over 90 in the first month of the year, but I am taking a 'tortoise and hare' approach this time. During each month I am going to actively seek out the scarcer targets in my area, and hopefully the common stuff will fall into place naturally.
My first quarter goals are mainly all at sea- white winged gulls, divers, grebes, Long tailed Duck and Little Auk with Grey Plover, a biggie, out on those rocks. This is a common coastal wader here, but not on my patch. 2 miles south and I can get a flock of 40 no bother, but our rocky coast seems to repel them...and there is a tree in our village still laden with apples in case a scandinavian fop drops by.
Remember keep schtum.
5 comments:
My secret weapon? Ring-necked Parakeet! Let battle commence...
Sounds a good way to enthuse the birding and blogging......i'll be watching with interest!
...you guys do know about Patchwork Challenge don't you? That there are a whole pile of us doing exactly as you propose, well, just a tad more complicatedly with points per species as well. Years ago there was a magazine (you know, a real thing made out of paper and staples and inky print) called Patchwork and that used to run a competition too. That included extra points for getting a best count of a species on your patch, amongst other things. Mosey over to http://patchworkchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/ and see what you think, it is all about to migrate to a super duper website, rather than the blog. Why not sign up to this as well?
I'll be keeping an eye on your scores if you publish them. This year I'm going to shift my focus a wee bit and try to spend more time on my coastal patch. Record breaking year on the home patch with 118 species (its wrong on Bubo, there's one missing on that list which I just can't find), and there's still time to find that one more..... The Palace, Birsay patch was neglected by myself this year but had a good one with Black Kite, Alpine Swift, Woodchat and Rosy Starling (none of which I saw). Anticipation is rising...
Hi Alastair, Yes we know of it ( I have done it of the last two years and am still going to continue) but its getting a tad complicated, so Steve and me are taking it very casually. No doubt we will publish scores sometimes.The PWC a bit full on too, one bloke packed in his job to concentrate on the patch! Thats a luxury I cant compete with ;)
Good luck for the year ahead...
Ah, I'm not taking it that seriously although retirement is in my mind - trouble is my girls are kind of expensive to "run". My total of 118 this year on the home inland patch is (I think) a record since we've been here (5 years). Included some quality too... Blue Tit for instance! I've put in a fair bit of effort, I will admit. Good luck with the challenge, my target for the home patch for 2015 will have to be 118 (I dipped Snow Goose, (bit dodgy origins in any case) and Mistle Thrush (at work and text picked up too late)). Will be dividing my effort a bit in 2015 with the coastal patch and some island hopping out to Papay and North Ron I suspect. Lovely Otter on my patch t'other day, don't think I'll be trying to compete with your mothing tho! All the best for the New Year.
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