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How local is your local patch? (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter RockyRacoon
- Start date
treecreeper
unashamed dude
Excellent thread - I'm a bit of a local patch obsessive.
Mine is about a five minute walk from home due to the absence of a back gate - otherwise I'd be straight there !
It is wonderfully varied and that's why I love it. It is predominantly broadleaved woodland ( 2 medium-sized woods )but also contains lots of unintensive farmland and meadow grassland as well as a major river ( Tyne ) running beside it. There are seven small ponds plus two old disused quarries and one working quarry. The only thing I'm lacking is coast. It takes around three hours to cover well.
The great thing about local patches is that you find your own birds and become familiar with their habits and favoured spots which IMO is far more fun than driving to nature reserves or sitting in hides for hours.
Mine is about a five minute walk from home due to the absence of a back gate - otherwise I'd be straight there !
It is wonderfully varied and that's why I love it. It is predominantly broadleaved woodland ( 2 medium-sized woods )but also contains lots of unintensive farmland and meadow grassland as well as a major river ( Tyne ) running beside it. There are seven small ponds plus two old disused quarries and one working quarry. The only thing I'm lacking is coast. It takes around three hours to cover well.
The great thing about local patches is that you find your own birds and become familiar with their habits and favoured spots which IMO is far more fun than driving to nature reserves or sitting in hides for hours.
tomjenner
Well-known member
My local patch is the mouth of the Rio Jiboa, which takes about an hour to drive to from my house. If I tried anywhere nearer to San Salvador I would need to take an armed guard with me. However, its well worth the drive as I've seen about 160 species there, including two firsts for El Salvador!
Tom
Tom
Rob Williams
Well-known member
When I'm short of time it's the local river, about 200 yards away. When I've a bit more time it's a local nature reserve, 10 minutes away on foot (walking through the first patch!). I usually spend about an hour and a quarter in there, mostly standing around. 40+ species so far, and counting.
Rob
Rob
Michael W
Mountain Chickadee
I guess my patch would be our property. It is 25 acres on a slight mountain (2900 ft elevation), mostly field with lots of edge habitat. Also pine woods, with some fir mixed in, and what I call "serviceberry groves" (not surprisingly, these are groves of serviceberry bushes) with some pines.
I have seen 123 (I think) species on the place, and my dad has seen a couple more that I haven't. I usually cover the area in about an hour, but sometimes it takes longer if there's a lot of activity.
I am doing a site survey for Ebird. I report what I see each time I go out (2-7 days a week, depending on the birds that are there). I have found that Ebird is a good way to keep track of our birds, and it helps out a little with science. I can run monthly, weekly, or yearly reports, as well as my daily list. It's quick and easy, too. It takes less than five minutes each time I enter counts.
I would strongly suggest that all N American members use Ebird (located at www.ebird.org). It is an excellent way to contribute to science, especially if you go to the same place multiple times.
Michael
I have seen 123 (I think) species on the place, and my dad has seen a couple more that I haven't. I usually cover the area in about an hour, but sometimes it takes longer if there's a lot of activity.
I am doing a site survey for Ebird. I report what I see each time I go out (2-7 days a week, depending on the birds that are there). I have found that Ebird is a good way to keep track of our birds, and it helps out a little with science. I can run monthly, weekly, or yearly reports, as well as my daily list. It's quick and easy, too. It takes less than five minutes each time I enter counts.
I would strongly suggest that all N American members use Ebird (located at www.ebird.org). It is an excellent way to contribute to science, especially if you go to the same place multiple times.
Michael
My patch is several acres right outside the door/window. If I choose I can stay inside and watch all the feeders through 4 windows with one way glass, so I can see out but they can't see me. Once I go out I can walk as many miles as I wish on gravel roads through woods and farms owned by Amish neighbors. They are all birders so it is possible to go anywhere I choose, and do, especially when involved with the Ohio Bird Atlas during the month of January. Once in a while an Amish horse and buggy might pass but it doesn't disturb the wildlife. This area in Dundee, Ohio has been number one in the state the past several years for the Great Backyard Bird Count in February, conducted by Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Audubon. Bill Jackson, Amish Country, Ohio
John o'Sullivan
Well-known member
I've two patches that I consider local. Two resevoirs that are now about 10 minutes drive from the house (they used to be 5). I've moved house, the resevoirs are in the same place (see ynysyfro thread) and one that is a four hour flight away, but 30 seconds walk from my other house ( see thread south east turkey). Apart from july to september when I become a Goldcliff obsessive, I rarely bird any where else. Another local patch obsessive.
Larry Lade
Moderator
Bill, keep us posted on how your atlasing turns out in January!
Good to hear from you again.
We are getting ready to eat some turkey (and all the fixin's)!
Happy Thanksgiving!
Good to hear from you again.
We are getting ready to eat some turkey (and all the fixin's)!
Happy Thanksgiving!
boyinthebush
Registered Loser
My local patch is about 30 seconds away. Lucky old me. I live RIGHT on the edge of a town... turn right into town, turn left into farmland. So behind the house there's a stream, farmers fields, some grassy bits, a variety or trees and hedgerows dotted around and there is large wooded area at the other side of the farmers fields. Sounds great doesn't it! The downside is 90% of it is off limits... the woods are private, the fields are private, so I often spend lots of time squinting at dots in the distance. But there is a nice path that runs along the egde of it all lined with hedges and trees so it's still rather pleasant. It's a great seasonal place to watch birds... lots of swallows and housemartins in the summer, fieldfare and the like in the winter. I might not be able to get at most of it, but I can look and I love it. If only I could get close enough to the tawny owl that I hear most nights "somewhere in the forbidden zone".
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birdman
Орнитол&
Technically, I live on my local patch, although that depends on the exact circumstances.
Like bitb above, I live right on the edge of town, and my garden backs onto open ground. But as I don't have a back gate, it's a two minute walk to get there.
However, when I am "doing my patch" my count starts as soon as I set foot outside, and continues until I get in on my return.
On the other hand, though, when I am going to work, as I exit the front door I start my "journey to work" sightings.
For the record, my garden never constitutes part of my local patch.
I guess all this shows
a) just how pedantic I am
and
b) that we birders, I guess, are never "off".
Like bitb above, I live right on the edge of town, and my garden backs onto open ground. But as I don't have a back gate, it's a two minute walk to get there.
However, when I am "doing my patch" my count starts as soon as I set foot outside, and continues until I get in on my return.
On the other hand, though, when I am going to work, as I exit the front door I start my "journey to work" sightings.
For the record, my garden never constitutes part of my local patch.
I guess all this shows
a) just how pedantic I am
and
b) that we birders, I guess, are never "off".
markpie
Well-known member
Hi,
I have a 30 minute walk through my town before I get to where Stort Navigation starts on River Stort (lock no.1). The Stort navigation runs 13.5 miles before joining the river Lee. I sometimes walk down the whole river, which takes me 5 hours altogether, but I usually do about a third of it. But there's a few areas that I walk around by the side of the river, like Rushy Mead and Sawbridgeworth Marsh, so that means I walk even more.
Cheers, Mark
I have a 30 minute walk through my town before I get to where Stort Navigation starts on River Stort (lock no.1). The Stort navigation runs 13.5 miles before joining the river Lee. I sometimes walk down the whole river, which takes me 5 hours altogether, but I usually do about a third of it. But there's a few areas that I walk around by the side of the river, like Rushy Mead and Sawbridgeworth Marsh, so that means I walk even more.
Cheers, Mark
edenwatcher
Well-known member
I don't have to leave the house, though I do occasionally go down the garden or up the drive! See http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=15443
134 spp in 2 years.
Rob
134 spp in 2 years.
Rob
my local patch currently covers a 2.92 sub urban neighborhood, and is expected to be growing to the whole sub urban area that will be 5 to 8 times the size of the current one, im still not sure about the border of the area so couldn't estimate the actual area of the place. Current patch is just surrounding areas of my house, that is eventually mostly terace house, but with a few fields around as neighborhood here usually have their own field with some big angsana trees. A tiny little mining pool is continue to shrink due to rubbish dump, the pool is now is very small, possibly around 400 m2 or less now, but there are a few sewage ponds nearby that do attract some waterbirds, but only the braver species appear, im expecting egrets, but they have not show up at these ponds, usually species with better camouflage shows up. Previously, my whole neighborhood is a mining pool area, land reclaimation has basically filled up 99.99% of them, a large mining pool near my area is also recently filled up for development, sad for heron species here.
Another valuable area will be a large piece of wasted land, now is a short grassy area, great place for shrikes and snipes, and a few species that favours this type of habitat. Species is not abundant at this patch, but most species found here are very local and regular.
A little bit further away is a river side secondary growth, currently the area with the richest avifauna of my whole patch, having many forest edge species confined to this area in my whole patch.
Total species is 70++ since some species are not positively recorded yet, such as the pond heron and egrets which their exact ID is still uncertain, raptors are poorly represented at my patch with only 2 species positively identified recently, many old records are not positively identified but since my patch is a potential raptor migratory path, therefore it is likely that more than 10 species of raptors can be found.
The whole patch is not well surveyed yet with nearly 30 species are found in the last 3-4 years, and many that are regarded as rare in the past are found to be regular at the secondary growth area or the short grassland, the list is expected to grow to more than 100 species as more places are well-surveyed, currently quite hard becoz i seldom go home to check this patch due to my studies in another state.
Another valuable area will be a large piece of wasted land, now is a short grassy area, great place for shrikes and snipes, and a few species that favours this type of habitat. Species is not abundant at this patch, but most species found here are very local and regular.
A little bit further away is a river side secondary growth, currently the area with the richest avifauna of my whole patch, having many forest edge species confined to this area in my whole patch.
Total species is 70++ since some species are not positively recorded yet, such as the pond heron and egrets which their exact ID is still uncertain, raptors are poorly represented at my patch with only 2 species positively identified recently, many old records are not positively identified but since my patch is a potential raptor migratory path, therefore it is likely that more than 10 species of raptors can be found.
The whole patch is not well surveyed yet with nearly 30 species are found in the last 3-4 years, and many that are regarded as rare in the past are found to be regular at the secondary growth area or the short grassland, the list is expected to grow to more than 100 species as more places are well-surveyed, currently quite hard becoz i seldom go home to check this patch due to my studies in another state.
dafi
Well-known member
i live on a large island so count the whole thing as i range all over it. I dont know if this is strictly in the spirit of things but i have lived here most of my life and know it fairly intmately. Plus you can only travel 20 mins in any direction. So i tend to think of the whole place as my back yard.
Pinewood
New York correspondent
Less than one kilometre to Central Park and no more than a kilometre within the Park. The Park has provided a varied habitat which attracts many species. I always enjoy seeing cormorants, egrets or kingfishers catching and eating prey. This year my block of flats has had a nice assortment of avian visitors, including northern mockingbirds, house finches, a common redpoll [maybe] and northern cardinals.
Happy bird watching,
Arthur Pinewood :scribe:
Happy bird watching,
Arthur Pinewood :scribe:
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