Inland Ireland Minileague - November 2016

It only takes a couple of new species added to a year list to cause a shakeup in the Inland Minileagues and this was certainly the case in Ireland during November when Alan Lauder got lucky with a trio of Stock Dove, Dipper and most importantly, Little Egret at Carrick Mountain seeing his comparative score rise to 110% and taking him from fourth to second place! A few key additions in the final month of the year could result in him challenging Michael John O'Mahony's top spot position on the table. Place your bets now! 

Des Higgins connected with a Little Grebe on the main lake at University College Dublin, an excellent record for the campus and one which puts him on 107% but still just shy of Niall Keogh's third place score of 108% at the South Dublin Parks. Can Des do enough to secure a podium position by the end of the year?

Hen Harrier continues as a regular feature at Michael John O'Mahony's patch at Upper Rathduff, Co. Cork. See Michael's Flickr page for more pics.

At the top of the Inland Ireland Points Minileague table, Derek Charles continues to tip away at Lough Neagh South Shore adding two species since his last update, namely Grey Wagtail and a couple of flyover Waxwings! Great to see some of these crested beauties making their way onto the Irish Minileagues list for the year. Derek finishes the month on 92 species and 108 points, a solid effort for his first year.

Also in his first year of PWC is Andrew Power who breaks away from Niall Keogh who was threatening his second place position last month. Andrew's patch at Kildavin, Co. Carlow saw Crossbill, Tufted Duck and a fine male Mandarin Duck show up recently, taking him to 78 species and 86 points.

The only other addition of note related to a couple of flyover Mute Swans at Carrigmore in Co. Wicklow which were a welcome addition to Christian Osthoff's patch there where open water is at a premium!