Patchwork Challenge

Nick Tonge takes advantage of a blank month for Keith Dickinson and James Common and takes the lead after adding 7 new species in June while Steven Ward joins the 100% club in 5th place. With less than 30% separating the top 15 it looks like a good autumn could well see anyone make a push for a podium place! Darren Starkey maintains his healthy lead at the top of the points table with Andy Bunting still his closest challenger. Garry Taylor has finally made his move into the top 3 adding 17 points from his 'inland' patch at Hornsea. 4th place is jointly held by Mark Reeder, Tom Lowe and Jonny Holliday so its all to play for while their PWC2014 nemesis Bill Aspin slips out of the top 10 and surely out of contention! Highlights were thin on the ground this month but Long-eared Owls featured in a few patches while Tome Lowe added a Quail to his Goole Fields score, Andy Bunting caught up with a Red-necked Phalarope and Paul Massey found the same species at his patch at Grindo...

Nothing new for Tom Raven this month (thats because he has seen everything already!). Tom Stevenson's battle with himself sees Battle Farm leading the way and busting through the 100% barrier at the same time thanks to three additional points. His Ewelme patch remains in third. Neil Burt added 8% in June to climb into 4th and putting pressure on the leaders. Again Tom Raven is out front but his lead has been cut by Graham White at Rye Meads who added a brace with Ruff and Tawny Owl. Adam Bassett holds onto third place as he added two as well thanks to a pair of Garganey and some Black-tailed Godwits.      This Knot was a nice inland find for Tim Farr at Sutton Bingham There were a pair of very decent finds in June for our Inland South patchers. Nick Croft got a handy 6 points with a Black Kite over his Wanstead patch. Not perhaps as big-hitting as the Blyth's Reed Warbler of last year I bet this was a tad more impressive! At Sutton Bingham Reservoir Tim Farr m...

It's the halfway point in the year and time for a look back over the first six months  for  the Inland Mini-leagues. I'll not get bogged down with point scores etc as that is best left to the monthly reviews, this is more of a personal selection of the more interesting sightings submitted in the highlights box and rough tally of best find records. Before I start, let's just recap on the prime purpose of the Challenge, which is to record the species over time in a small area and make those records available for others to use the data. So anyone who isn't logging their sightings on Birdtrack needs to start now and with the mobile app it is even possible to log sightings in the field. 2015 had been fairly quiet year for most patch-workers with a lack of true megas until April when Tom Raven noticed an odd looking godwit late in the day at his Shapwick Heath/ Ham Wall (South) patch. After swotting up overnight he managed to re-find the bird the following day and pu...

A wader double act for Ian Pitts was the highlight of an otherwise quiet month in the Coastal South league. Not satisfied with a superb Hudsonian Whimbrel, a fine Terek Sandpiper also paid a visit. Both were enjoyed by many observers, and for Ian they represent a couple of superb patch ticks and a load of points which lift Ian to 8th in the points table. Meanwhile the long staying Greater Yellowlegs at Titchfield Haven continued to draw admirers, but for Amy Robjohns whose local patch it has chosen to take up residence, it is that little bit more special.  Greater Yellowlegs : Titchfield Haven c/o Amy Robjohns Despite no additions in the month, Paul Freestone at Gwithian retains the lead in the comparative league. Peter Hazlewood has taken advantage of the opportunity to close the gap, with Nuthatch and Coal Tit being tough patch ticks at Oldbury Power Station. In the points league, Paul Bowerman bags points for a Storm Petrel and Crossb...

An american gull left Mick Turton laughing at his Easington patch in June. West continues to dominate east in the comparative league, with Ash Baines retaining top spot despite no additions in June and Seumus Eaves sharing second with Stewart Sexton. As is the trend for coastal sites, the autumn is a high point scoring period, so 89% is a very respectable score at the half year point.   In the points league, a superb May sent Mick Turton at Easington into top spot, and a couple of superb additions in June extend his lead. It will be quite a turnaround for the chasing pack to close the gap now. Perhaps they will be hoping that Mick has a two month holiday booked in September and October!   The highlight of the month was a cracking Laughing Gull, located by the aforementioned Mick Turton at Beacon Ponds. A first for the Spurn area, he also found a Bee-Eater as he stepped out onto his doorstep and enjoyed Spurn's first American Wigeon in addition to a ...

Craig Fulcher's fantastic year continues at Southwold with Manx Shearwater and Wood Sandpiper helping to extend his lead at the top. 91% at the half year is a superb score and with the autumn just around the corner the 100% marker must surely fall soon. A Red-footed Falcon for Ryan Irvine helped him leap frog Tommy Corcoran who saw what was undoubtedly the Coastal East Anglia bird of the month - a gleaming Pacific Golden Plover at the east end of Breydon which arrived on the 27th June. No locusts required in Hemsby! Nige Lound leads the point table at Gibraltar Point NNR, his location on the Lincolnshire side of the wash pushing the Norfolk and Suffolk sites down the table! He added a further six year ticks in the month, including a Montagu's Harrier. Robert Smith at Holme Dunes NNR keeps second despite no additions in the month but his gap to third is closing due to a Hen Harrier for James Brown. Gary White at North Walsham scored bonus points with a self...

A patch find Crane at Brantham keeps Ed Keeble in top spot for the month. Meanwhile Gordon Hodgson edges the battle for second with Shaun Robson just 0.7% behind. No-one has hit the 100% mark yet - but with an autumn of potential wader highlights on the horizon there should be some game-changing points scoring to come! The heavily watched Frampton / Freiston reserves dominate the top places with Dave Craven and Howard Vaughan breaking the whitewash. With so many watching the same site, the points table is extremely tight. So finding a rare bird on patch is going to make all the difference, and so it proved as a self-found Broad-Billed Sandpiper sends Paul Sullivan into top spot. Frampton also got in on this spring's Red-Necked Phalarope influx. Dave Craven is in an excellent fourth spot, with three patchlifers in the month in the form of a Sandwich Tern, Hawfinch and Pied Flycatcher.  #Patchgold - Pied Flycatcher at Hale & Pickerings Pasture c/o Dave Craven Howard ...

On the Scottish coast, Stephen Welch at Gosford Bay retains his lead in the comparative league. There is still some work to do to hit the 100% mark, but Stephen is only 12 points form the marker with the autumn months still to come. Chris Hill and Jim Dickson make up the top three with the remaining pack having plenty of work to do in the second half of the year to match the scoring of previous years. In the points league, it is a very close battle with Jim Dickson leading Mike Hodgkin by just one species and one point! There are also plenty of other patchers within striking distance, so the points competition should be an exciting one to watch over the coming months. Bird of the month in the Coastal Scotland league was an unseasonal Velvet Scoter for Jonathan Clarke at Whiteness Head who also added Razorbill to his year list.

The 100% barrier has finally fallen in the Inland Scotland league, with a two pointer Osprey pushing Chris Pendlebury's Stirling patch past the all important comparative marker. Alastair Forsyth nudges that little bit closer to the marker with a #patchgold flyover Crossbill, just a second patch record. Meanwhile Andy Cage in third added roding Woodcock and Tufted Duck, the latter not so easy at his Kilmany site. The flyover Crossbill helps Alastair to retain his lead at the top of the points league. David Douglas is keeping him on his toes, just 15 points adrift with plenty of time to go. David is the only competitor to top 100 species, but the American duck bonanza earlier in the year is paying dividends at Old Nisthouse with an impressive 1.412 points per bird.

A very quiet month in the NGB league thanks to a mixture of people forgetting to submit their scores and many patchers being away from patches at their universities. There's no change in the top 3 in the comparative league with the top 2 both being away from patch for the entire month. The main change in the points league sees Jonathan Farooqui move up into second place on his Druridge Bay patch, a Cuckoo being a highlight there. Cathal Forkan had the best month in the league at Galway Bay where he managed to rack up 16 points and move up into the top 10 with seabirds dominating including Balearic Shearwater, Storm Petrel, Little Tern and Little Gull. July sees migration starting up again so expect a few higher scores coming in this league in the next couple of months.

Ben Moyes takes over with his mighty Gipping Valley patch crashing in with 111.5%. His climb to number one in the comparative league was helped by a self-found Honey Buzzard. Sweet work squire! Nick Robinson failed to make any additions but his 111% is still good enough for second as is the equally static Ben Rackstraw in third place. Jamie Wells adds a single point in June to extend his lead to nine points - this is going to be tough for Ben Lewis to haul back. In fact Jamie's point is the only one in the top three as Ben Rackstraw holds third but for how long? Ashley McElwee is now only a solitary point behind. Aside from the aforementioned Honey Bunny there was precious little from the various outposts with a brace of Quail for Ashley McElwee at Felmingham and Spotted Flycatchers for David Gomer and Jonny Rankin. Mr Rankin also records his final score for Needham Market next month as he is shifting jobs and patches so he has supplied us with a blog post about the anxietie...

The top of the comparative league remains static in terms of position and David Wood failed to make any additions but Bryan Rains and Ian T made significant inroads into David's lead with them both in and around the 90% mark. John Bowler continues to make additions as if they are going out of fashion and has accrued a mighty haul of 247 points including the elusive Sabine's Gull that evaded him in May leaving him out of sight to Mike Pennington in second place at Baltasound, Unst. Jason Moss is in third place on Skomer a mere five points behind Mike thanks to a self-found Rosefinch plus a Greenish Warbler. One species that failed to make it this month was Cedar Waxwing which avoided John Bowler on Tiree! There were further Rosefinches on the Isle of May and for Barrie Hamill on Burray. Find of the month goes to Alastair Forsyth with a Gull-billed Tern briefly on his Birsay patch.

A brace of points for Tom Shields in June takes him to the brink of 100% after he finds a Black Tern at Holme Pierrepoint.  Rob Williams is just over 5% back but with no additions this month the gap widens. Steve Lyon also failed to add anything whilst Andy Sims surges over 90% with half the year gone still to go thanks to a patch tick Red-crested Pochard. Little Tern, Eyebrook - Andy Mackay The top two managed just two points between them but unfortunately for John Hopper they both went to Ian Cowgill at Lound making the gap a whopping 35 points. Is this too much to bridge already? In third Andy Mackay had a better month at Eyebrook reservoir as he added five points with Bar-tailed Godwit and Little Tern both making an appearance. There is a bit of a drop back to the peloton but plenty of competition as you would expect in a league with 39 contestants. Relatively few scores were received for June, indicative perhaps of the doldrums but Carl Cornish added some quality wi...

Alison keeps her excellent year at Llanfair TH going with her first Cuckoo in years and her excellent comparative score highlights this as she clocks in at 126.8% - a fabulous achievement on a patch which doesnt have the diversity of some. Adam Tilt failed to add in June but remains in second place already well over the 100% barrier. Henry Cook doubled up and is now in joint third place with himself thanks to hitting both 145 points and 100% at both Great Orme and Conwy RSPB as Alun John fails to make the addition to reach the magic mark. Red-necked Phalarope, Newport Wetlands - Mathew Meehan A single point for Laurie Allnatt was enough to consolidate his lead at Llanelli WWT as Barry Stewart failed to add anything at Burry Inlet. Mathew Meehan at Newport Wetlands closed on the top two with 5 points in June including a female Red-necked Phalarope and brings himself into striking range for the autumn. Away from the top of the table there were signs of the changing of seasons...

May 2015 Best Find There were no less than 22 bonus point scoring species found by PWC’ers in May with multiples in many cases. There was no outstanding rarity find but some solid stuff with the highlights being a Black Stork for Paul Parsons at Nantyfyllon and a brace of Bonaparte’s Gulls with one each for Sean Foote on Portland and Barry Stewart at Burry Inlet (that’s Burry Barry not Burray Barrie who is totally different!). Whilst none of these finds are going to trouble the Forest Optic Best Find competition when held up against the hudwit, Im sure they made the finder’s plenty happy! Black Stork - Paul Parsons Aside from these there were stacks of scarce as expected in May but only limited numbers of typical drift migrants (no Wrynecks, Marsh Warblers, Ortolans, Icterine Warblers Bluethroats etc) with overshoots and wetland birds the order of the day. Wildfowl in May aren’t usually of much interest but a fine drake Ring-necked Duck floating about on campus at Unive...