The challenge is a simple one – you have ten hours consecutive to record as many
species as you can in a single ten kilometre square.
It is quite a lot like a bird race but on a smaller and more compact
scale. All usual bird race rules apply – birds can be heard or seen
but must be in the square, not seen/heard from the square and in an
adjacent one. Around three quarters of your team must record it for
the species to count – both of you for two, two out of three, or three out of four.
On 2nd May 2015 a team of three (Steve Blain, Matt Burgess and Darren
Oakley-Martin) had a crack at TL14 between 5am and 3pm. They scored
94 species and set the initial benchmark for other teams to beat.
A repeat in TL14 on 1st May 2016 with a team of three consisting of Steve Blain, Matt Burgess and Andy Grimsey stretched the total to 99 species missing one other species by a couple of minutes so we know the 100 is possible.
The 100 barrier was broken in 2019 when a Steve Blain, Matt Burgess and Andy Grimsey got together again and had a go at the TL04 square from 4:30am to 2:30pm on 4th May and managed to score 102 species. Another attempt at reaching this barrier is being planned for 2023.
Pick your square and see how many you can get: