South West Minileague - November

Joe Stockwell still leads the way at Portland Bill with what looks to be an unassailable lead. Despite seeing fewer species than Kev Rylands at Dawlish Warren, his points per bird stands at an impressive 1.84 giving him a 46 point lead.

Peter Hazlewood at Oldbury Power Station has now hit an impressive 8000 records on BirdTrack this year.

Good birds were there to be found in November in the South West, with a number of patchers picking up good points. Typical late autumn fare arrived at Portland in the form of a brace each of Dusky and Pallas's Warblers. There were no extra points for Kev Rylands' 6th Yellow-Browed of the year, but he did add a number of species to his tally to take him into a clear second in the table. Providing an American flavour, a Black Brant was at Topsham, a Green-Winged Teal was found at Severn Beach and Marcus Lawson found a Ring-Billed Gull at Swineham Gravel Pits on the last day of the month.

In true patch style however, there are always those commoner birds that for some are simply #patchgold. For Roger Musgrove at Wall Common, a Yellowhammer was as rare as Pallid Harrier on his patch. Kev Rylands will be spending December trying to add Coal Tit to his impressive species total, a glaring omission from his year list.

5 patchers have now surpassed the 100% barrier. Kev Rylands is a Coal Tit away from joining them on that mark. But it is Roger Musgrove who looks like he will take the comparative league in the South-West in 2014.