How local is your local patch? (2 Viewers)

[MKinHK]

An interesting question as there are a cupl eof birds which I've seen just beyond the boundaries.

I roughly use the area that can be defined by the boundaries of the village, plus the catchment for the river that runs through it and is generally known by the same name as the village.

Unusually for Hong Kong I live out of earshot of a road so record everything I see and hear from my 2nd floor flat. Formhere I can see fields used for flower cultivation, hills rising to over 700m with a mix of grassland, regenerating secondary forest and fungshui woodland.

50 metres away is the start of a trail up through the river valley. This contains 3 waterfalls including one of about 30m high set in some of the best forest in Hong Kong. The species count shows how good it is.

Cheers
Mike

 

[JimMorris]

I don't have a local patch as such so most of my birding is done in the garden. It's pretty good as gardens go. 46 species so far, the latest being a quick visit from a Tree Sparrow.

 

[gyrfalcon]

I've recently moved to a house right on the edge of a "large village".
I'm in walking distance of some woodland, and grazing land/meadow, plus a large field of "wasteground" with a paddock, and some arable farmland. So I guess that is my local patch in the strictest sense. I've found some nice birds here in my first winter/spring including Woodcock, Merlin, Wheatear, Whinchat, Nightingale and Grasshopper Warbler. All within walking distance of the house, (although I usually drive and stop off there en-route to shopping or something else!) An SSSI of "New Forest" type woodland a short 5 minute drive away is the nearest area of real pedigree! with Woodlark, Tree Pipit and several other good species known to be in the area.
This spring I'm doing most of my birding on the Hampshire downs, which is 20-30 mins drive away. Very few birders in any of these places. Have seen about 4 in as many months!.. often very few birds too, but that is part of the challenge!

 

[g8ina]

Mine is also my back garden with just over 40 species logged so far. I don't drive (and use a wheelchair) so anything further away is just that - further away

It's OK, but I do often wish I could just get in the car and go to the Peak District, or the Long Mynd, or the Brecon Beacons, like I used to.

A good day out for me is a trip to Venus Pools in Shropshire, about 12 miles away, which, if I weren't to count my garden, would be my local patch.

 

[christineredgate]

I guess my local patch is the Hodbarrow RSPB reserve.Just 15 mins walk away or 10 mins on my trike.Our local river is 25yds across the road,and the beach is 50yds.The sand dunes are only a short distance,so many birds,really I am very lucky.A rich diversity of bird species in a very small area.

 

[GDC]

I guess my local patch would be my backyard where I feed a few birds and get to observe them. At different times I get out and travel around a bit but most of my birding is done right out the window. I do enjoy it but should try to venture a little farther away sometimes.

 

[Jaff]

I'm 5 mins walk from Mere Sands Wood (I walk very slowly!) and 5 mins drive from Martin Mere WWT.

Let's just say they're both pretty big.
Jaff

 

[andyrew]

Huge!!

I live in Stiffkey in Norfolk, the closest house to the marsh. So my patch is from my back door either left (titchwell) or right (cley) although my favourite bit is heading south to a hill behind the house which is probably 'my patch'

 

[Cyclops]

Well I suppose I have 2 local patches. One is a newish nature reserve about 20 minutes walk away with a decent sized reservoir, tho it tends to be frequented by chavs on whiney motorbikes. Closer to home I found a wild unused track with song birds a plenty(and deer) but no water.

 

[s. james]

My local patch (Oxford Island on the shores of Lough Neagh) is about 3 miles from my house. However adjacent to it is the house where my granny was born and brought up so I have quite a strong connection to the area.