Written by the team behind Puzzlify. Puzzlify is our product, so weigh what follows with that in mind. We've tried to make this useful even if you never use it. We're not affiliated with any bird club, birdwatching society, ornithological society, ringing group, county or state bird recorder, nature reserve, wildlife trust, the BTO, the RSPB, the National Audubon Society, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, eBird, BirdLife International or any of its partners, Birds Canada, BirdLife Australia, any council or charity. Nothing here is legal, wildlife law, safeguarding or privacy advice. Check your own club's, survey's or reserve's guidance on gifts, photos, sensitive sites and members' details.
It's ten past seven on a Sunday morning in October, and the car park at the reservoir is empty apart from one small hatchback with a telescope tripod sticking out of the boot. A retired geography teacher called Brenda, who has done the monthly wetland count here for fourteen years, is pulling on a second fleece and checking her kit: binoculars, telescope, a notebook in a sandwich bag, two pencils because one always breaks, and a small metal clicker for counting. The water is flat and grey. Mist is lifting off the far bank. Somewhere out in the middle, a few hundred ducks are sleeping with their heads tucked under their wings, and Brenda is going to count every one of them.
She walks the same route she always walks, stops at the same five places, and counts in the same order: the gulls on the dam wall first, before they lift off, then the teal along the reedy edge, then the tufted ducks, then the coots, which are the worst, because they never keep still. She writes everything down in neat columns. At the third stop, she sees two birds she isn't sure about, so she writes "?" and a description and decides to ask the county recorder later, rather than guess. By half past nine, she's done. The numbers will go into a national dataset that goes back decades, alongside thousands of other counts made by thousands of other volunteers on the same weekend.
At the other end of the reservoir, a hospital pharmacist called Kwame is leading the bird club's monthly beginners' walk. Eleven people have turned up, including a couple who have only just retired and bought their first pair of binoculars, and a teenager who knows more about warblers than anyone else present. Kwame lends out the club's spare binoculars, sets up his telescope on a heron so everyone can see the yellow of its eye, and spends ten patient minutes explaining the difference between a cormorant and a shag. Nobody is made to feel silly for asking.
That evening, at the club's indoor meeting in a church hall, a retired accountant called Lin is sitting at the back with a laptop, typing up records for the county's annual bird report. She's done it every winter for nine years. It takes her about four hundred hours. Almost nobody knows.
If you've ever been on a bird walk, sent a sighting to your local club, or enjoyed a chart of how many swallows came back this spring, you've benefited from bird club and bird survey volunteers. This guide is about saying thank you to them, in words first and, if it fits, with a small extra: a photo of the reservoir at first light, a hide window or a bird at the feeders, turned into a private digital jigsaw with your note at the end.
Who we mean
Birding groups come in many shapes: village bird clubs that meet once a month, county ornithological societies with a few hundred members and an annual report, ringing groups, reserve volunteer teams, and national surveys that rely on thousands of people each counting their own patch. Almost all of them depend on volunteers. Most have some version of these:
- the chair, secretary and treasurer, who book the hall, keep the accounts, sort the insurance and answer the post;
- the programme secretary, who finds speakers for the winter indoor meetings and remembers to bring the projector;
- the field trip leaders, who choose a route, check the tides, organise the car shares and lend out spare binoculars;
- the surveyors, who walk the same square, transect or shoreline at dawn, several times a year, for years;
- the survey organisers or regional representatives, who hand out survey squares, chase up results and answer endless questions;
- the county or regional bird recorder, usually a volunteer, who checks sightings, asks for descriptions of rare birds and keeps the official record;
- the bird report editor, who turns thousands of records into a printed or online report every year;
- the ringers and trainee ringers, who are licensed and trained, and who spend early mornings at nets and long evenings entering data;
- the feeding station and hide volunteers, who fill the feeders, clean them, mend the hide shutters and keep the sightings board up to date;
- the young birders' leaders, who run walks and clubs for children and teenagers;
- the public events volunteers, who set up a telescope at a fair or a festival so strangers can see a peregrine for the first time;
- the person who brings the flask of tea and always has a spare pencil.
Many volunteers do several of these. The person counting ducks on Sunday morning may have edited the newsletter for a decade, and may be leading the Christmas walk.
The words matter most
The best thank-you for any volunteer is a specific, honest message. Something like:
- "Thank you for the beginners' walk. I saw my first kingfisher, and I've been out every weekend since."
- "Thank you for the patience on the phone. I'm sorry I thought it was an eagle. I know now it was a buzzard."
- "I know how many dawns you've spent on that survey square. Thank you for every one of them."
- "Thank you for the talk on swifts. We've put up a box, and we're waiting for May."
Say what they did, what it meant, and, if you can, a small detail that shows you noticed: the field trip leader who always walks at the back so nobody gets left behind, the recorder who replied to your blurry photo with kindness instead of a lecture, the surveyor who has counted the same hedge since before your children were born. That's the gift. Everything else is optional.
If you're on the committee, a thank-you at the AGM, in the newsletter or at the start of an indoor meeting matters too. Name people where they're happy to be named. A short line saying "This year our members counted on every single weekend" can be the thing a volunteer keeps for years.
Who might send one
A photo jigsaw with a note can suit:
- a beginner thanking the walk leader who showed them their first good bird;
- a club chair thanking a long-serving recorder, report editor, treasurer or programme secretary;
- a survey organiser thanking the volunteers who covered every square this year;
- a reserve manager thanking the feeding station or hide volunteers;
- a parent thanking the young birders' leader who turned a phase into a lifelong interest;
- a member who has moved away thanking the club that made the local patch feel like home;
- a volunteer's own family, thanking the person who has set an alarm for four in the morning every spring for twenty years.
It suits people who would rather have something personal than another bird book, and clubs that would rather spend their subscriptions on telescopes and survey materials than on presents.
Gifts, clubs and good manners
Some practical points:
- Club money is members' money. Subscriptions and raffle money usually pay for the hall, the speakers, the report and the insurance. If you're thanking someone personally, pay for it yourself. If the club is thanking someone, agree it at committee and keep it small.
- Not everyone wants the spotlight. Some volunteers enjoy a round of applause at the AGM. Others would rather be out on the marsh alone. Ask, or follow their lead.
- Keep it modest. A note and a small gesture is more comfortable than something expensive. Puzzlify is a small digital gift, not a lavish present.
- Birds come first. In many countries, the law protects nesting birds, and some species are protected from any disturbance at all while breeding. Never approach a nest for a photo, never use a photo of a nest, and never use playback or bait to get a picture for a gift. The volunteer you're thanking will care about this more than anything.
- Sensitive sites stay secret. Clubs and recorders often keep the locations of rare breeding birds, roosts and vulnerable colonies confidential. A gift should never reveal where something sensitive is, even by accident through a recognisable view or location data in the photo.
- Private land is private. Many survey squares cross farmland or private estates where landowners have kindly given access. Don't photograph farmhouses, gates with names on them or anything that identifies whose land it is.
- Members' details stay private. Club lists, sightings reports with observers' names and survey allocations are personal data. Keep them out of a gift that might be forwarded.
When to send it
Good moments include:
- the end of a survey season, when the last spring visit is done;
- the club's AGM, especially when someone is stepping down from a role;
- when the annual bird report comes out, with the editor's name quietly on the inside cover;
- after a memorable field trip, a big day out or a rare bird that everyone saw;
- the club's last indoor meeting before Christmas;
- after a garden bird count, when a family has done it together for the first time;
- the club's own anniversary, if it's been running for forty or fifty years;
- any time you've been meaning to say it and haven't.
If the club has had a hard year, such as losing its meeting hall, a bird flu season that stopped outings, or the death of a founding member, a thank-you to the people who kept it going can mean even more.
Why a jigsaw can fit
Bird surveys are a kind of jigsaw. One volunteer counts ducks on a reservoir, another walks a farm square, another fills in a garden sheet, and a recorder somewhere fits all the pieces together into a picture of how birds are doing. No one person sees the whole thing. Every piece matters.
A photo jigsaw asks for the same patience. The person solving it puts the picture together piece by piece, notices the reeds and the ripples and the shape of a bird on a post, and at the end finds your note. It's a small, quiet way of saying "I saw the patient work you do", and people who can sit in a cold hide for three hours waiting for a bittern tend to enjoy a puzzle.
If you're thanking the field trip leader
Field trip leaders check the weather, the tides and the parking, choose a route that suits everyone, and then spend the morning pointing out birds to people who can't quite find them. They walk at the back, lend their binoculars and answer the same question twenty times without sighing. A good photo is the view from the place where the walk always stops, a path at first light, or the club's telescope set up on its tripod. Your note might say: "Thank you for the walk. I'll never hear a robin in winter without thinking of you."
If you're thanking the surveyors
Surveyors set an alarm before dawn, drive to the same square, walk the same route and count, carefully and honestly, whether the morning is glorious or wet. They do it again the next month, and the next year, and the year after that, because the value of a survey is in the long run of numbers. A good photo is the landscape of their patch at the hour they count, with nothing that identifies a farm or a private house, or their notebook and pencil on a gatepost with no handwriting readable. Your note can be: "Thank you for fourteen years of first Sundays. The ducks don't know, but we do."
If you're thanking the county recorder or report editor
Recorders and editors do the invisible work: checking records, asking for descriptions, politely saying "probably not", entering data, writing species accounts and proofreading every page of the report. A good photo is a row of past bird reports on a shelf, a cover you're fond of, or a quiet desk with a cup of tea and a field guide, with no screens or records visible. Your note might say: "Thank you for every record you've checked and every page you've typed. The report is the first thing I read every year."
If you're thanking the ringers
Ringers are trained and licensed, and the work is careful, early and often cold. They'll usually have their own photos and their own clear views about how birds in the hand should be shown. Don't use a ringing photo unless the ringer took it and is happy for it to be used. A safer choice is the net ride at first light with no birds in it, the ringing hut, or a landscape from the site, as long as the site isn't sensitive. Your note can be: "Thank you for showing us the warbler and letting it go. I've never forgotten how light it was."
If you're thanking the feeding station and hide volunteers
These volunteers fill the feeders in the rain, scrub them to keep disease away, fix the hide shutters, sweep out the spiders and write the day's sightings on the board. A good photo is a bird at the feeders, taken through the hide window with no flash, the sightings board with no names on it, or the hide on a frosty morning. Your note might say: "Thank you for the feeders and the board. My dad comes every Tuesday just to see what's on it."
If you're thanking the young birders' leaders
Young birders' leaders give children and teenagers a place where it's fine to love birds, and they handle safeguarding, permission forms and very early starts. Never use a photo with children's faces in it, and follow the club's safeguarding policy. A good photo is the view from a walk, a bird the group saw, or the club's spare binoculars lined up on a table. Your note can be: "Thank you for every Saturday. She's going to study ecology, and it started with you."
If you live with a bird club or survey volunteer
Some of the most important thank-yous are the ones nobody hears: from the partner who has learned that the first warm morning in April is not for lying in, or the family who've found that every holiday includes a sewage works with an interesting reputation. If you're the volunteer, a photo jigsaw for them is a nice way round. Choose a photo that means something to both of you, perhaps a place you walk together, and your note might say: "Thank you for every four o'clock alarm, every cold flask, and for pretending to be excited about gulls."
When a long-serving volunteer steps down
Many clubs have someone who has done it for decades: who remembers when the reservoir was first flooded, who has led the New Year walk for thirty years, who can tell a willow warbler from a chiffchaff by the call alone and has explained the difference to hundreds of beginners. When that person steps down, a thank-you matters.
A good photo might be the view from their patch at dawn, the hide they helped build, the first bird report they ever edited, or a bird that's become their emblem, photographed ethically. A higher piece count, like 130 or 252, can suit a slow, reflective solve. Your note could collect messages from several members, or simply say what the club owes them.
In memory of a member
If a club is remembering someone who has died, a puzzle can be a gentle way to share a memory with their family, but only if the family would welcome it. Ask first, keep it quiet and personal, and choose a photo the family recognises: the view from their favourite bench, the place they always counted, or a bird they loved. Some clubs name a hide, a bench or an annual walk after a member; a photo connected to that can be a fitting choice.
For bird groups elsewhere
The same ideas work for:
- local bird clubs and county ornithological societies in the UK and Ireland;
- Audubon chapters, bird clubs and Christmas Bird Count teams in the United States;
- local naturalists' clubs and bird count volunteers in Canada, Australia and New Zealand;
- volunteers on national breeding bird, wetland and garden bird surveys;
- ringing and banding groups and bird observatory volunteers;
- seabird colony counters, shorebird counters and migration watchers;
- reserve volunteers who look after hides, paths and feeders.
Every one of them depends on people who give their time, and every one of them has someone who stays out in the cold to finish the count.
Photo ideas and consent
Good photos for a bird club or survey thank-you include:
- a reservoir, estuary, marsh or wood at first light, with nothing that reveals a sensitive site;
- a bird at a feeder or on a post, photographed from a hide or a path without disturbing it;
- the inside of a hide, the shutters open and the view beyond;
- the club's telescope on its tripod, pointed at the horizon;
- a notebook and pencil, with no handwriting readable;
- a row of past bird reports or newsletters on a shelf;
- the sightings board at a reserve, with no observers' names;
- the path or gate where the beginners' walk always starts, with no names or house numbers in view.
Keep out of the frame:
- nests, eggs and chicks, always;
- rare or sensitive breeding birds, roosts or colonies, and any view that could reveal where they are;
- birds that have been flushed, baited or attracted with playback for the picture;
- birds in the hand, unless the licensed ringer took the photo and is happy for it to be used;
- members' faces, unless every person has agreed;
- children, unless their family has agreed and the club's safeguarding policy allows it;
- farmhouses, named gates, private estates, house numbers and car registration plates;
- survey forms, recording sheets and screens with observers' names or exact locations.
If the photo has people in it, ask them first. A photo with no people at all, just a misty reservoir, a hide window or a robin on a fence, is often the easiest and best choice.
Getting the JPG right
Puzzlify works from a JPG. Most phone and camera photos are already JPGs, or can be saved as one. A few practical tips:
- if the photo came from a camera in RAW format, export it as a JPG first;
- birds against plain sky look lovely but make tricky puzzles, so crop in close or choose fewer pieces;
- reeds, bark, feathers and ripples make wonderful puzzles because every piece has texture;
- landscape images usually make the most comfortable puzzles on a phone turned sideways;
- phone-scoped photos (taken through a telescope) can be soft round the edges, so crop to the sharp middle;
- if a photo has a name, a house or a car registration in the background, crop it out or retake it;
- remove location data from the photo before you upload it, especially if it was taken anywhere sensitive or at someone's home. On most phones, you can switch it off in the share options or the camera settings.
Privacy, an optional PIN, and saying it's from you
The puzzle is private: it's shared as a link, not posted on a public board. You can add an optional PIN so that only someone who knows it can open the puzzle, which is useful if you're sending it to a club email list or a members' group chat. Even so, treat the photo as if it might be forwarded, and keep anything private, or any sensitive site, out of it.
Many volunteers, especially recorders and survey organisers who get a steady stream of odd emails, are rightly wary of unexpected links. Say who it's from and what it is in the message itself: "This is a little jigsaw of the reservoir at first light, with a note at the end. It's from me, and it's safe to open." If you're sending it to someone who doesn't use email much, hand it over as a QR code inside a card at the next indoor meeting.
How many pieces?
| Pieces | Feels like | Typical time |
|---|---|---|
| 24 | a quick look through the binoculars | a few minutes |
| 48 | one bird at the feeder | around 5–10 minutes |
| 80 | a morning walk round the lake | around 10–20 minutes |
| 130 | a full count of a busy estuary | around 20–40 minutes |
| 252 | a long sit in the hide waiting for something special | an hour or more |
If you're not sure, 48 or 80 pieces suits most people on a phone. Experienced birders may want the hardest version, but grey water and pale skies get tricky at high piece counts, so start lower if the image has large areas of one colour.
The leaderboard: only for a group
If you're sending one puzzle to the whole club, the optional leaderboard lets everyone see who finished first. Some clubs, already familiar with friendly competition over year lists, may enjoy that, and it can make a good winter challenge. If it's a personal thank-you to one volunteer, you probably don't need it.
A few note ideas
- "To Brenda: fourteen years of first Sundays, one clicker and every coot that wouldn't keep still. Thank you."
- "To Kwame: thank you for the heron's yellow eye, and for not laughing when I asked about the shag."
- "To Lin: four hundred hours and nobody noticed. We noticed. Thank you."
- "From the Saturday young birders: thank you for every early start. We'll keep counting."
- "To our hide volunteers: every feeder filled and every board written. Thank you."
- "To my husband: thank you for every four o'clock alarm, and for the flask."
(Change the names, and keep anything personal or identifying out of a puzzle that may be shared.)
How to make one (about a minute of setup)
- Open Puzzlify's puzzle maker in a browser: https://puzzlify.app/en/puzzle-maker/
- Upload your JPG: the reservoir at first light, the hide window, a bird at the feeders or the club's telescope.
- Pick a piece count from 24 to 252.
- Write your note. It appears when the last piece goes in.
- Add a PIN if you want one, and preview it for free.
- When you're happy, publish the link and send it by email or message, print it as a QR code inside a card, or ask the club secretary to pass it on.
Honest pricing and notes
Making and previewing a puzzle is free in your browser. You only pay when you publish the link to send it: one credit is EUR 3.99, three credits are EUR 8.99, and Plus is EUR 14.99 a year for ten credits, which can make sense if you want to thank several volunteers separately. The person you send it to doesn't need an account or an app; they just open the link in a browser.
This is a digital jigsaw you play on a screen. It isn't a cardboard puzzle in the post, a printed product or a public puzzle board, and it isn't connected to any bird club, survey, ringing scheme, nature reserve or conservation charity. It's also not puzzlify.io (a chess site), Puzzlit, Puzzly or Puzzify, which are different things.
Ideas that are not a puzzle
Honestly, some of the best thank-yous for bird club and survey volunteers cost nothing at all:
- a handwritten card, handed over at the indoor meeting;
- volunteering yourself: taking on a survey square, helping at the feeding station or joining a count;
- sending your sightings to the club or the county recorder, with care and honesty;
- taking a beginner on a walk, the way someone once took you;
- buying the club's bird report, and telling people about it;
- bringing a friend to an indoor meeting, since most clubs want new members more than anything;
- putting up a nest box or a feeder, and keeping it clean;
- a flask of good coffee for the leader of the next early walk, which never fails.
If a photo puzzle feels right as well, choose a misty reservoir, a hide window, a bird at the feeders or the club's telescope, keep nests, sensitive sites, faces, names and private land out of the frame, pick a piece count and add your note. You only pay if you decide to send it. You can open Puzzlify's photo puzzle maker and try a free preview first.
Whatever you send, the most important part is the sentence that sounds like you, written to the person who set the alarm before dawn, counted the coots that wouldn't keep still, lent out the spare binoculars, checked the four hundredth record, filled the feeders in the rain and walked at the back so nobody got left behind, so that next year, there would still be a count, and the birds would still have someone keeping track of them.
Written by the small team behind Puzzlify (info@puzzlify.app). Not legal, wildlife law, safeguarding or privacy advice. Check your own club's, survey's or reserve's guidance on gifts, photos, sensitive sites and members' details.