First of all, what is a patch? A patch is an area rural or urban which is visited frequently by a person allowing them to thoroughly know an area and all its flora and fauna.
Why get your own patch?
Well first of all it’s free! Just choose an area local to you and start going more and more! You will never cease to be amazed in what wildlife you can find no matter what it is. Even if it’s a charismatic little spider to a cute fury fox it’s worth the effort.
This is my patch. An old Brownfield site which holds Common Lizards, Smooth Newts and have even found Jacksnipe here! It’s also the 2nd site in Cheshire which holds a very tiny jumping spider known as Talavera aequipes.
Benefits of a patch
A simple green space or even a Brownfield site can be your patch and its so crucially important especial for a young budding naturalist. Visiting a patch and discovering animals new to you teaches valuable skills such as observance, patience and more importantly respect as you truly appreciate what you are seeing. It is also a great way to learn, by watching simple behaviours and by simply, searching up what you have found. With an ever-increasing population and a changing climate, it is more important than ever to instill an innate respect in our younger generation’s minds, to ensure the safety and conservation of our wildlife in a constantly changing world.
A patch is also for everyone and it can greatly better your mental and physical health! Its proven that those living with nature on their doorstep are more inclined to spend more and more time outside and honestly who came blame them! Spending time outside has also been linked to reducing chronic stress levels and for those in work there has been a link to a 10% decrease in work absences. There are also plenty more benefits linked with our mental health and nature!
A Patch and science!
For those who love to keep track in what they are finding, sending off those records can benefit us all greatly! It allows us to track migration patterns, species distributions and how these distributions change over time. In a time such as now with our changing climates this can be very helpful as we can better understanding how this is affecting our native wildlife and understand how fast and quickly new colonists are spreading.
This is to show that your patch can be anything and doesn’t necessarily have to look attractive to be a haven for wildlife
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