Patchwork Challenge

Tom Shields manages to defend top spot despite heavy pressure from Andy Mackay and Dave Roberts who are pushing all the way to the line. At Holme Pierrepoint the chief bit of quality was a trio of Whooper Swans which take Tom to 112%. Andy Mackay is 1% further back thanks to Slav Grebe, Brambling and a patch tick Mealy Redpoll. Dave added 3% including a patch tick Goldeneye and three Greenland White-fronted Geese. If one of these three can get a December bonus pointer it could be game set and match. Black Redstart - Richard Harbird In the points minileague and Ian Cowgill's lead is cut to just 6 points after a blank November at Lound while Andy Mackay makes gains and reinforces his place in second. John Hopper at Hoveringham adds four points to keep him in touch at the top. This months additions for John were Tree Sparrow and Brambling. There were no bonus points this month in the Midlands but there were plenty of patch ticks and aside from those already mentioned ther...

We have just received this snippet of video from Paul Bowerman of a Glossy Ibis at Severn Beach he found last month. It may be the easiest 12 points out there but still a great patch find.

What a year it has been so far for the top three in the Coastal South Comparative Minileague with impressive 120%+ scores.  Paul Freestone's run in first at Gwithian was boosted by additions of Fieldfare and Firecrest in November as he edges closer to 130% with one month left to go. Second place Andy Rhodes added three #fullfatpatchticks at Calshot with flyover Brambling and both Black-throated and Red-throated Divers (with his second Great Northern Diver of the year making for a nice trio that month). Amy R objohns has been having a superb year at Titchfield Haven where she sits in third place on  over 120% and just shy of 150 species and 200 points. Siberian Chiffchaff, Short-eared Owl and nice daytime views of Tawny Owl were all new for Amy in November. Tawny Owl  © Amy Robjohns Sean Foote reached his 100% comp score target with Siberian Chiffchaff at North Portland but was knocked out of fifth place by Paul Bowerman who had a great month at Severn ...

A brace of points for Tom Raven means that he has a 12% lead over Tom Stevenson in second with Neil Burt a further 4% back. Mr Raven added Mediterranean Gull but he has three weeks off for December so more points may follow. Tom S added a single point of unknown provenance but Neil managed a decent trio of Pintail, Merlin and Goosander. Congratulations to Tim Farr who becomes the 8th member of the 100% club in Inland South with Pintail the bird that pushed him to the mark. Great Skua by Ian Bennell Tom's lead at the top of the points minileague remains 35 points but his closest competitor is now Nigel Milbourne from Blagdon Lake. Nigel added 5 points to leapfrog Lee Evans while Lee failed to make an additions so it is a close race for second moving into December. Adam Bassett is close as well so a three-way shoot out between these gents will sort out the podium places over the Christmas period. Best find of the month was a Great Grey Shrike for Roger Hicks at Henlow Gran...

With just 5 out of 16 respondents in November perhaps some are holding their score back for the last. Despite this Craig Fulcher increased his comparative score by a further 4% to wrap up the minileague with a month to spare (unless Ryan or Tommy manages 40 odd points over the next few days). This month Craig added Suffolk's 10th record of Black Guillemot to his cannon alongside Little Auk and 18 Bewick's Swans. Ryan's sofa generated a Leach's Petrel but he had legwork for his other additions of Iceland Gull, Merlin and his second patch record of Avocet. Tommy Corcoran held onto third with 5% gains in November. A flyby Velvet Scoter for Ryan Nige Lound's seawatching efforts stretched his lead to 47 points in November. His best bits this month were 6 Egyptian Geese although honorable mentions go to his Slav Grebe and Long-tailed Duck. James Brown held onto a share of second thanks to a Little Auk but Ryan's assortments from Hemsby mean that it is a shoot...

Contestants in the Estuarine Comparative Minileague are holding on tight to their allocated positions on the league table with nobody budging except for Paul Freestone who moves up from last place and into eight at Hayle Estuary at 73%. At the top of the table, Ed Keeble scored well with a nice Rough-legged Buzzard at Brantham, boosting his first place position to 106%.  Shaun Robson and Gordon Hodgson are almost neck and neck again this month with comparative scores now over 100%. Shaun leads by less than 1% from Lytchett Bay where he stays in second while Gordon remains in third with 103% at Saul Warth & Frampton on Severn. Shaun bagged some serious points during viz-mig watches where the obvious highlights were a pair of calling Penduline Tits flying low over his head (later to be found 8 miles away) and a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker! Gordon got in on the bonus points action too with Leach's Storm-petrel. Ed's lead is now by no means certain. If the two guys in se...

Will Alison get pipped at the post? With few additions after the spring (the usual story in the hills at LlanfairTH) Alison has two other competitors within 1.3% and just a single point for Alun John will take him past her 126.8% mark while Henry Cook in third needs 2 points on his Little Orme patch. There were no new additions to the 100% club with Julian Hughes still poised on 97.8% and Barry Stewart not far behind. Firecrest - Peter Howlett David Carrington stays top of the points minileague but has had his lead cut to five points by Mathew Meehan who jumps from 6th to 2nd at Newport Wetlands. David added Black Redstart this month whilst there was a Leach's Petrel for Mathew. Barry Stewart stays third despite a blank month. Henry Cook had a profitable time at Little Orme adding Hen Harrier, Lapland Bunting, Black Redstart and Black-throated Diver. Paul Roberts also had Black Redstart on the Ogmore estuary in a good month for this species. Peter Howlett had his most prof...

After a couple of months on the second step of the podium, Stewart Sexton reclaimed top spot. His November at Howick featured Great Northern and Black-throated Diver plus Snow Bunting and Mediterranean Gull plus a liberal scattering of Little Auks. No news from Ash Baines in second place but Seumus Eaves closed the gap and kept the pressure on with Mediterranean Gull, Pintail and Snow Bunting new for the year. James Spencer became the fourth member of the 100% club and overtook Chris Bradshaw in the process with Tundra Bean and White-fronted Goose amongst his November additions. Mick Turton adds 12 points in November including 6 for a Black Brant which he first found off patch and later added to his patch list. He is 79 points clear of Nick Addey in second who added Water Pipit, Shore Lark and Black-necked Grebe this month on his Long Nab patch. Martin Garner remains in third place despite a blank month. Pete Marsh in Heysham added Leach's Petrel and Great Northern Diver this...

November was a month of #patchday rewards for those who took part in the Inland Scotland Minileague.  Alastair Forsyth started off his #patchday efforts with a #fullfatpatchtick drake Ring-necked Duck at Old Nisthouse but this was followed by a dodgy Black Swan (!) and what seems to be a mega patch grip after receiving a very good description of what may well have been a white morph Gyr pretty much in his back garden! Either way, he remains in second place on the comparative minileague table for another month with 108%. Ring-necked Duck  © Alastair Forsyth Chris Pendlebury's #patchday birding at his multitude of sites added a flyover Barnacle Goose with Pink-feet at Dunlbane, a Cormorant at Blairdrummond and a trio of ticks at Kinneil (Rock Pipit, Raven & Stonechat). Chris remains in first place on the comparative minileague table with 114% at Stirling while his Kinneil patch remains in eight but increases the comp score there by 10%. Alastair's Rin...

The rankings on the Coastal Scotland Comparative Minileague table remain the same by the end of November but we see contestants continuing to add nicely to their scores. Four Snow Buntings for Stephen Welch helped him get to 108% at his first place position held at Gosford Bay while  Mark Lewis continues in fine form at Girdle ness where a Red-backed Shrike tipped him over the comp score target and on to 101% in second place.  In third place at Girdle ness and Torry, Andrew Whitehouse is just a couple of species away from 100%. Red-backed Shrike  © Mark Lewis The rarity highlight of the month involved a White-rumped Sandpiper at Musselburgh where Chris Rodger connected with it just before a Sparrowhawk did also! Otherwise, the status quo remains the same on the points minileague table where Mark leads the way with 225 points Girdle ness (a 'Green' patch with the highest number of BirdTrack records submitted also).

November proved to be an interesting month throughout the inland north minileague with a number of patchers adding new birds and some nice scarcities on offer across the region. The unbridled highlight of the month has to be the American Golden Plover unearthed by Tom Lowe at Goole Fields while a fly-over Waxwing for Damien Money was the highlight of his month at Skelton. Elsewhere Bill Aspin nabbed his first Black Redstart in seventeen years at Brockholes and Duncan Bye landed no less than three patch ticks at Wheldrake ings in the form of Cetti's Warbler, Barnacle Goose and White-Fronted Goose respectively. James Common also finally caught up with the longstaying Slavonian Grebe on his Stobswood patch in Northumberland. Elsewhere in the league other goodies included a ringtail Hen Harrier for Steven Ward, Firecrest for Phil Woollen, Caspian Gull for Tom Lowe and finally two Short-Eared Owls for David McGrath at Marton Mere. Examples of #patchgold were also rife throughout Novemb...

The comparative league remains static at the top with the Ben Moyes at the head of the table with Nick Robinson in second and Ben Rackstraw is in third despite not a point added between the three. Steve Swinney is the latest addition to the 100% club thanks to a windblown Razorbill at Linford and leapfrogs Nick Moran in the meantime. Mike McCarthy drops down as we correct a maths error and he returns to 87.7%. As with the comparative table the points minileague is quiet at the top end as Ben and Jamie are stuck in a slow race to the win. Throwing a potential spanner in the works is Steve Swinney whose 5 points in november almost put him in striking range as bridges the gap. Is 12 points too many? Ashley McElwee resisted the off-patch lure of Little Auks to bag a self-found Great Grey Shrike amongst a 10 point day. There were no other significant additions this month although a couple of scoreless finds were notable with a Caspian Gull for Nick Moran at BTO HQ and a Lesser Spotted ...

The top three in the Ireland Comparative Minileague diligently tipped away during November, adding to their scores and securing their respective positions for yet another month. Eamonn O'Donnell scored a #fullfatpatchtick in the form of a Pochard present offshore with the rafting Common Scoters at Ninch/Laytown while a trio of Whooper Swans was a further welcome addition to his year list, now over 130 species and with a leading comp score of 118%.  Niall Keogh finally connected with Kingfisher at Kilbogget Park where some #patchday effort also added flyover Fieldfare for him plus an epic count of 173 Mediterranean Gulls feeding on the sports pitches!  Niall's second place comp score of 111% at the South Dublin Parks is being challenged by Alan Lauder in third who adds 5% to his score at the Broad Lough to Wicklow Head patch, points there coming from Jack Snipe , Long-tailed Duck and a Nearctic harrier (more on this below).  We see some movement elsewhere on t...

No change in the NGB comparative minileague throughout November, the top nine competitors remaining fixed in a now familiar order. Amy Robjohns remains in pole position this month with an impressive score of 121.38% at Titchfield Haven, adding nine species and 16 points throughout November. Josie Hewitt remains in second place despite not submitting a score this month, a familiar theme right down the table with many competitors away from patch for the duration. Over to the points league and again the top three remain the same despite all three failing to submit scores for the month. Cathal Forkan jumped a place however, edging out Lee Fuller for ninth place gaining 11 points and 5 species at his North Galway patch. In terms of the best birds seen throughout this league in November pickings were rather slim. A Siberian Chiffchaff brought in some bonus points for Amy Robjohns while a Slavonian Grebe at Stobswood for yours truly was a sight for sore eyes. Elsewhere a Black Redstar...

Alastair Forsyth keeps his roll going and an additional 3% in November takes him onto 117% and extends his formidable lead to 9%. Perhaps an unbridgeable gap? Pochard, Grey Plover and Common Scoter were this months additions at Palace. With no word from Mull this month, Ian T takes advantage and climbs into second after a successful #Patchday and his first Corn Bunting at Askernish since 2012. John Bowler becomes the fifth member of the 100% gang which is especially impressive considering his 343 target. Ian T at Askernish on #Patchday courtesy of YvonneB John remains top by miles and adds 18 points in November including self found Lesser Scaup and Waxwing. Neither Bardsey nor Skomer troubled the scorers in November but remain in second and third place respectively whilst Burray Barrie (Hamill) scored a solitary one in fourth. Hurricane Abigail delivered a late House Martin for Stuart Taylor at Balivanich which should have been a Cave Swallow really whilst on Scilly finders po...

Welcome one and all to Patchwork Challenge 2016! 2015 is drawing to a close and registration for next year is open (see the form on the right hand side of the blog). But what is Patchwork Challenge and why do we need your details? Patchwork Challenge (PWC) has been running since 2013 and is a friendly, community orientated competition to help link patch birders and encourage birding your local area whilst providing support and context for this. Friendly rivalries are encouraged and regional minileagues are often the forum for this. We also aim to help you push yourself by providing you with a measure of year on year comparison in our comparative leagues. The registration form in the right sidebar thus needs your name, patch name, which minileague you would fit into (or your general location if you dont know), whether you have competed before (in order to work out your comparative score), whether you are eligible for the Under 25's league or the Green league. And thats it...

PWC Interview Series Patch birder: Howard Vaughan Patch: RSPB Rainham Marshes (Estuarine minileague) Date: 13 th November 2015 Niall Keogh (PWC) and Howard Vaughan (RSPB) at Rainham 13 th  November 2015 Introduction: Tell us a bit about yourself & your general birding habits... My name is Howard Vaughan and I am the Visitor Experience Officer at RSPB Rainham Marshes in Essex. I have been working at the marshes for nearly 13 years and seem to spend most of my time here nowadays. Thankfully the view from the visitor centre is open enough that I can bird even from the inside and it affords a great vista over the marsh and the adjacent Thames so even on foul days I have a chance of finding something. I was Essex County Bird Recorder for ten years and birding is without a doubt in my blood. View across Rainham marshes from the RSPB visitor centre © Niall Keogh Background info on your patch: A brief history of the site. What habitats & ...