The Herts Bird Club’s inaugural Local Patch Big Weekend is above all about getting out BIRDWATCHING in HERTS and having FUN!  The simple aim is to see how many species you and your team can record on your chosen local patch over the weekend 23rd - 24th April 2022.

Googlesheet now available. Details on how to complete and rules and bottom of this article

Local Patch Big Weekend 2022 Googlesheet

 Over the last few years birdwatching, of necessity, has had to shift its focus to the local and that has led to some great discoveries of just how rich and rewarding the birdlife on our doorstep can be.  Of course, local birdwatching has the added benefit of less fuel miles with many people choosing to walk from home, cycle or even just sit in their garden!

The Local Patch Big Weekend aims to provide an opportunity to focus on your local patch – maybe even choosing one for the first time.  It’s up to you how your patch is defined: it might just be your own garden or local park, or it might be a specific radius from your home or more established nature reserve.  Whatever you choose, it’s an opportunity to grow your patch list or even start one for the first time.

Of course, you may choose to birdwatch on your own but why not team up with other local birdwatchers and target your patch together – after all, the more eyes and ears the better!  Participants will be encouraged to share their sightings and experiences throughout the weekend and prizes will be going for, among other things, “Best Bird” and “Best Patch Watch Photo”.

To spice things up a bit and with a view to future events a scoring system will allocate points according to each species rarity in the county and also bonus points for particular achievements throughout the day.  During the garden events these included challenges such as spotting 3 different raptors over the weekend or recording a flock of more than 20 House Sparrows.

While every patch is different, the scoring system will also enable teams to compete against each other if they wish – maybe on the same patch or between comparable patches.  The final scores will also set a ‘patch standard’ to better in future events.

Late April is, of course, a peak time for birds on the move so the chances of finding those patch rarities (or even county rarities) is greatly increased.  As with the Christmas Bird Count, the Herts Bird Club will be keeping a running total of all the species recorded in Herts over the weekend to see if we can collectively beat the equivalent weekends in previous years.

Using the Google sheet
1 Only enter data within the green boxed areas - cells outside of this area will auto-populate and should not be edited.
2 There are 4 sections to enter data into (green cells only):
• Your Team Name
• Your Patch Location/Name
• Your Team Members Names
• A total count for each species recorded and bonus point acheived along with a location and grid reference.
Your scores will automatically sum up and populate the summary sheet

Rules & Instructions
1 Records can include any species seen or heard* in or from your chosen patch during the day or night.
2 Records must be from within the Herts county boundary.
3 Records must only be from midnight on Friday 22nd April 2022 to midnight on Sunday 24th April 2022
4 Teams can number from 1 to 4 members.
5 Each team must appoint a ‘recorder’ who is responsible for adding the species recorded to the Google sheet as they are recorded. Teams are encouraged to share their sightings and progress over the weekend on Twitter using the hashtag #hertsbirds