Under 25 League - September 2016

Semipalmated Sandpiper - Amy Robjohns

Amy Robjohns extends her lead at the top of the Under 25 minileaguehaving added 5% this month having added Semipalmated Sandpiper and found an overflying Honey Buzzard. Ash Baines is in second position having moved onto 113% with a duo of Great and Pomarine Skuas this month. Rhys Chivers is still in third place as he adds 5% with American Wigeon his highlight at Soar Valley Pits.

Joe Stockwell draws level with Tim Jones at the top of the table as we still havent heard how Tim's autumn is progressing. Joe however found Woodchat Shrike, Sabine's Gull and Blue-headed Wagtail. Amy drops back to third and Erik Ansell leads the pack in fourth with 208 points.

Jacob Spinks found Great White Egret and Honey Buzzard at Pitsford Reservoirs whilst Cathal Forkan managed to add Baird's Sandpiper and Long-billed Dowitcher in North Galway Bay. Elliot Montieth found a first site record of Spotted Redshank on the Wirral and also added Little Gull and Bonxie while there was also a Spotted Redshank for Erik Ansell as well as Ruddy Duck and Pectoral Sandpiper. Findlay Wilde added his first patch Pintail at Winsford Flash and also in Cheshire an inland Yellow-browed Warbler for George Dunbar was a nice addition. Luke Nash managed to see a Red-breasted Flycatcher on his Cley to Kelling patchm, Max Hellicar saw the Great White Egret at Rainham and there was an inland Wryneck at Puddletown for Ollie Thomas to catch up with. Finally Will Scott added Yellow-browed Warbler and  Whinchat at Humanby while Toby Carter added Cetti's Warbler on his arable patch at Grimston.

Under 25 Minileague - August 2016

The Under 25 minileague continues to entertain. This month Amy continues her lead at the top of the comparative minileague as she adds 11% in August to go to 130%. Her best bits in August are Honey Buzzard, Pied Flycatcher and Spotted Redshank. In second position is Ash Baines who moves up from third having gained 12% in August and breaking 100%. His additions include 4 patch ticks - Little Stint, Ruff, Black Guillemot and Marsh Harrier. Rhys Chivers has no additions this month and slips to third place.

Whinchat - Jack Bradbury

And still we await an update from Tim Jones (no doubt one will be coming after September) and although he remains in first place his points total is being hunted down by Amy with aplomb. Joe Stockwell continues in third position although the gap this month has been extended to three points by Amy - it is going to be close between these two rivals. Joe has been experimenting with nocturnal migrant recording and he managed to hear and record an overflying Ortolan which is quite the garden tick!

Elsewhere there were two records of Honey Buzzard for James McCulloch as he claimed the only other set of bonus points at Hedgecourt NR and Domewood in Surrey. Jonathan Farooqi added high counts of Curlew Sandpiper and Little Stint in Druridge Bay and it was a similar story for Erik Ansell plus the bonus of a Long-tailed Duck at Rutland. Jack Dawson connected with the White-rumped Sandpiper at Frampton for a handy three points and Luke Nash made similar progress thanks to a Cattle Egret at Cley. Will Scott had seawatching success at Humanby adding Sooty Shearwater and Great Skua whilst Elliot Montieth added his final regular tern to the yearlist as Black Tern fell to his tick cannon. Max Hellicar saw the Rainham Temminck's Stint for 3 handy points and the first mid-Gipping Valley Little Stint in 40 years was seen by Ben Moyes. Edward Betteridge also joined in on the Little Stint and Curlew Sandpiper fest whilst Jack Bradbury added Red Kite at Warwick Racecourse.

A quick congratulations to George Dunbar who won the Spurn young birder competition and also to Jack Bradbury who was one of the runners up, Great skills guys.

Under 25's Minileague - February 2016

A somewhat quieter month in the 'Under 25's' league with the new years hype dying down and new birds just a little harder to come by. The cream of the crop this month came from Rutland Water where Erik Ansell picked up a Long-Billed Dowitcher while elsewhere, February provided a host of more atypical winter highlights. Among these; Black-Throated Diver for Amy Robjohns and Siberian Chiffchaff for Espen Quinto-Ashman at Wellington GPs. Jack Snipe and Merlin featured for George Dunbar this month, followed by Glaucous Gull and Great White Egret for Jacob Spinks and Dan Rouse respectively while Peregrine occurred on three patches; noted in turn by Will Langdon, Ben Moyes and Joe Proudfoot. These aside; the best of the rest in February included Black Redstart for James Mculloch, Mandarin for Findlay Wilde and Tree Sparrow for James Common - his first in almost a decade of birding the Blyth Estuary. In terms of #patchgold this month; a Coal Tit brought a smile to the face of Jack Bradbury at Warwick Racecourse and Zac Hinchcliffe landed a potential site first in the form of a Water Rail at Old Bolingbroke.

Looking now at the tables and February saw former front runner Amy Robjohns relegated to second place as Sam Pitt Miller claimed the top-spot following an impressive run at Priory Water. With less than 1% seperating the top two competitors it will certainly be interesting to see how the situation develops come March. Espen Quinto-Ashman remains in third place this month with a similarly impressive score of 64% at Wellington GPs, no doubt aided by the aforementioned Siberian Chiffchaff, while further down the table a host of competitors, both new and old, look set for a record year on their respective patches.

In points league, Jonathan Farooqi takes the lead with an impressive 110 species and 136 points and Hadson to Hemscott Hill, followed Anthony Bentley and Joe Stockwell who claim the runners up spots. The top eight contestants in this league have now passed the coveted 100 points milestone and it will be interesting to see how things transpire next month. With spring migration set to commence in March, great change could lie just around the corner though only time will tell..

Siberian Chiffchaff - Espen Quinto-Ashman

Grey Plover - James Common