Bresser and Forest Optics Best Find 2015 - The Winner

Voting is closed and the results are in. The winner is of course Tom Raven's Hudsonian Godwit at Shapwick Heath. It had it all as an inland mega blocker. It was cryptic enough to hide amongst its cogeners but then gave itself up to the masses whilst disappearing on a regular basis. It garnered 95 of the 137 votes cast and rightly wins Tom a pair of Bresser 8.5 x 45 Montana binoculars. Please check out the Forest Optics website as they continue to support us for #PWC2016 and like their facebook page. Of course the Hudwit wasn't Tom's only find of the year with Night Heron, Little Bittern, Glossy Ibis, Dusky and Savi's Warblers all falling to his points cannon amongst others. Our heartiest congratulations to Tom!

Tom Raven's Hudsonian Godwit - Courtesy of James Packer

Despite Mark and James's best efforts to label it 'just a Yellow-legged Gull' in the podcast, Dave Roberts' fine Azorean Gull from Marston STW finishes in second place on 11 votes and 8% of the vote.

Azorean Gull - Ben Ward

Niall Keogh snagged third spot with a wandering Northern Harrier which he initially picked up at Kilcoole and was identified definitively shortly after. The Northern Harrier finished with 8 votes which constituted 6% of the vote.

Northern Harrier - Alan Lauder

The remainder of the top 10 finished like this:

4) Paul Sullivan, Broad-billed Sandpiper - 5 votes/4%
5) Ryan Irvine, Red-flanked Bluetail - 4 votes/3%
6) Dave Suddaby, Two-barred Crossbill -  4 votes 3%
7) Toby Collett, Wilson's Phalarope - 3 votes 2%
8) Alastair Forsyth, Gull-billed Tern - 3 votes 2%
9) Mick Turton, Laughing Gull - 2 votes 1%
10) Paul Parsons, Black Stork - 2 votes 1%

Forest Optics Best Find Competition 2016 - February Roundup

Welcome to the February update for the Bresser and Forest Optics  Best Find Competition! This is the competition open to anyone who finds a fantastically rare bird on patch and as always its prestige is backed up by a truly excellent prize. Last year Bresser and Forest Optics  donated a pair of Bresser Montana 8.5 x 45 binoculars worth a grand total of £665! This years prize is still to be confirmed but will again be a pair of binoculars. For the lucky winner, a prize definitely worth competing for so get yourself out there, you have to be in it to win it. In the meantime, for those looking to upgrade their optics, take a look a their website for the great products they have on offer.

After the 'everything counts again' bonanza of January, February can sometimes be a hard slog. Invariably the best find highlights are made up of wildfowl and gulls in the shortest month as everyone waits for spring. February 2016 was no different.

Bird of the month goes to Julian Wyllie at Baltimore in Ireland. From the other side of the pond, Black Duck is not going to have its own calendar anytime soon but what it lacks in looks it almost makes up for in rarity value! It is also a PWC first and another for our growing Bubo list.

Black Duck © Paul Connaughton (Shearwater Wildlife Tours)

In fact the theme of this write up is largely American orientated. Incredibly John Bowler on Tiree scored maximum points for the second year in a row for American Herring Gull, bagging a few good flight record shots at the same time. At times it shared the same location as a juvenile Kumlien's Gull. John's name is synonymous with this competition, and he added to his self-found rarity haul with a Green-Winged Teal.

Continuing the American theme, two bonus pointers that have been in the headlines frequently in the first two months are American Wigeon and Black Brant. Russell Neave on his new Sanday patch scores the extra points for the former whilst Irene Boston and Toby Collett successfully sifted out the latter from the Brent Flocks around The Wash at Brancaster and Frampton respectively.

American Wigeon, Sanday c/o @SandayRanger

Preceding Niall Keogh's Ring-Billed Gull prediction in the March podcast, Noel Keogh and Neal Warnock at South Dublin Bay and Lough Larne in Ireland scored bonus points for this cracker of a bird.

Ring-Billed Gull in the centre of this pic from Neal Warnock at Lough Larne

The long-staying Long-Billed Dowitcher at Cresswell in Northumberland went on a brief holiday to Iain Robson's Druridge Bay patch on the 7th February.  The final bird of this round up to have crossed the Atlantic was the diminutive Richardson's Cackling Goose which matched the wintering Barnacle flock for size.

Richardson's Goose, Oa c/o David Wood

Coming to birds from destinations closer to home, Common Crane is becoming a more regular bird in the UK. Indeed birds from breeding grounds would not make this round up, but a bird for Marc Lansdowne in the Trent Valley in Leicestershire was less expected.

That leaves us with two records, which whilst not on the same rarity scales as some of those above have added stories to their finds. The first is from Dave Suddaby who usually features in this roundup with his rarity laden garden. His golden touch seems to have moved to his office space as he added a Tundra Bean Goose to his office window list this month! Finally, Ben Rackstraw has moved house and thereby patches. In January he left behind Downham Market locating a Serin on one of his final visits. In February, he made his first visit to Wretton, his new patch and nailed a Great Grey Shrike. Quite some introduction!

Ben Rackstraw's incredible find on his first visit to patch.

Forest Optics Best Find Competition 2016 - January Roundup

Following a superb competition in 2015, Bresser and Forest Optics  have once again kindly agreed to sponsor the Best Find Competition this year. Whilst many of the rare birds appear on coastlines and islands, the last two years have seen winners from the estuarine Meare Heath and inland Pugney's Country Park, proving that the bird of the year can appear almost anywhere. A couple of the PWC admin team have predicted a UK first to be found on a patch this year, which if it happens I am sure will be a front-runner for PWC's most prestigious competition. Could it be you?

With such a prestigious competition comes an excellent prize. Last year Bresser and Forest Optics  donated a pair of Bresser Montana 8.5 x 45 binoculars worth a grand total of £665! This years prize is still tbc but will again be a pair of binoculars. An incredibly generous prize I am sure you will agree and we really appreciate their continuing support. Have a look at their website and see what they have to offer.

January is always an exciting month in Patchwork Challenge. Everything counts again, and even the one pointers are all ticks for the year! Bonus pointers can be hard to come by however and often come from scouring flocks of gulls, geese or wildfowl. Perhaps the most surprising find this month however was a Great Snipe at Wanstead Flats for Nick Croft. Flushed from scrub on the 3rd it gave close flight views before ditching down but could not be relocated again despite extensive searching. An amazing bird to find in the autumn in any part of the country, to turn one up in Greater London in January is a superb result, and already puts itself in contention from the off!

The first patch visit of the year for Derek Charles on New Years Day resulted in him finding a Black Guillemot on Lough Neagh, the first inland record for Northern Ireland since 1932! A great start to the year for any patch but even more incredible on an inland site. 

Black Guillemot at Ardmore, Lough Neagh c/o Derek Charles

On his first patch visit of the year, William Rutter located a pale redpoll in a flock at Birling Carrs. Fortunately it stuck around all month, providing the opportunity for many birders to pay a visit to this corner of Northumberland. Definitely one of the most popular birds of the month, there are many excellent photos and discussions on this stunning bird to be found online supporting the identification as Coue's Arctic Redpoll.

Arctic Redpoll at Birling Carrs (photo c/o Sacha Elliott)

Hardly a best find update goes by without John Bowler and Dave Suddaby getting a mention! This month they both scored bonus points for Kumlien's Gull, a second patch record for John, whilst Dave's find had the good manners to then add itself to his office list!

Third winter Kumlien's Gull at Blacksod (photo c/o Dave Suddaby)

American ducks are a feature of the winter with a few long stayers from last year providing points this year but no find bonuses. American Wigeon were found at Hesketh Out Marsh and Scarborough whilst a drake at Steart WWT for Joe Cockram was joined by a Green-winged Teal. Any patcher with a flock of Teal will spend the winter scouring them for their American cousin, and Pete Antrobus, Steve Nuttall and Ross Ahmed also got lucky when the vertical white stripe appeared in their scopes in January.

American Wigeon at Scalby Mills (photo c/o Nick Addey)

Ceri Jones and Peter Howlett bagged points for the same Lesser Scaup which commuted between Cosmeston and Cardiff Bay. There have been a few Surf Scoters on the east coast this winter, and Mike Hodgkin located one on the sea at Aberlady Bay in Scotland. 

In the last couple of years, a couple of the easier bonus pointers (if there is such a thing!) to link up with are Great White Egret and Yellow-browed Warblers. The latter has taken to wintering in a couple of locations in the south-west and Ilya Maclean unearthed a new bird at Lizard Point. New Great White Egrets were at Blagdon Lake and Hale and Pickering whilst a brace graced Conningbrook Lake. The influx of Cattle Egrets last year has left a few stragglers across the UK, but only one of those was a new bird in January with a  single at Topsham on the 3rd helping to boost Martin Elcoate's January points total. Meanwhile a flock of twenty Glossy Ibis at Tramore Backstrand in Ireland must have been quite a sight for Arlo Jacques who must be wishing their was a notable flock size bonus!

Cattle Egret at Topsham c/o Martin Elcoate

Scottish specialities White Billed Diver and White-Tailed Eagle put in appearances at Quoyangry and Balivanich respectively whilst the wintering Great Grey Shrike was relocated at Henlow Grange. Finally, Ben Rackstraw had his first bonus pointer in the form of a Serin on his last visit to his Downham Market patch before moving house!

Serin at Downham Market c/o Ben Rackstraw

Best Finds: Autumn 2015 in progress

The Bresser & Forest Optics Best Find Competition marks the pinnacle of the Patchwork  year.

This prestigious award goes to the lucky patcher who turns up the years best bird. A bird that causes other discerning patch birders to turn green at the gills with envy. The fine people at Bresser & Forest Optics have once again demonstrated monumental generosity and have donated a pair of Bresser Montana 8.5 x 45 binoculars worth a grand total of £665.00. A fine prize that will be awarded to the winner come years end when the results are collated and the votes cast.

With two months to catch up with it’s time to look at what September had to offer. First up the rarities and starting with our overall leader, Mick Turton, who found a Blyth’s Reed Warbler at Sammys Point on the 28^th. An excellent find tick for Mick and still a very hard species to find on the mainland. We stay in the Coastal North league for the next two cracking birds. Nick Addey at Long Nab had another excellent month with Sabine’s Gull and Yellow-browed Warbler bringing bonus points but bird of the month had to be the Fea’s Petrel he picked up moving north on the 8^th. Peter Marsh completed a hat-trick of great birds for the Coastal North with an adult White-winged Black Tern at Heysham on the 26^th, an excellent find and worthy of the six points. Toby Collett at RSPB Frampton Marsh rounds up the rarities for September with a brief Wilson’s Phalarope on the 8^th which was on the patch with a Red-necked Phalarope and a Temminck’s Stint at the same day. What a day!!

On the not quite so rare scale but still excellent finds was a showy Red-footed Falcon at Girdle ness, Aberdeenshire and a Buff-breasted Sandpiper at Balephuil, Tiree.

September also produced many of the usual autumn scarcities with multiple patches recording Yellow-browed Wabler, Barred Warblers, Wrynecks etc while seawatching was productive with several Long-tailed Skuas, Sabine’s Gulls and Leach’s Petrels picked up. Other PWC bonus point staples were recorded throughout the country with several Great White Egrets, an American Golden Plover in Ireland, Cattle Egret in the south west etc.

As expected October was busy with no less than 75 entries into the bonus point section! The majority of these were Yellow-browed Warblers (25 patches!), Great Grey Shrikes (12 patches), Pallas’s Warbler (5 patches) and Richard Pipits (4 patches) along with a few Leach’s Petrels, Sabine’s Gulls, Siberian Chiffchaffs, Red-breasted Flycatchers and Rough-legged Buzzards (3 on his patch for Tim Hodge!).

Great fall of GG Shrikes on the east coast

As expected or at least hoped for a Radde’s Warbler (Tommy Corcoran, Great Yarmouth) and Dusky Warbler (Nige Lound, Gib Point) made it on to at least one patch in October.

American waders were represented well with the highlights a Baird’s Sandpiper and Lesser Yellowlegs (an American Wigeon made it a patch yank hat-trick for the month) at Balephuil for John Bowler and an American Golden Plover for Mick Turton at Easington. An Alpine Swift at Little Orme found by Henry Cram was a great record for the area and a late one too! A Glossy Ibis made it too Rainham, a good record for the reserve and welcome bonus for Howard Vaughan. A Serin was a good find at Southwold for Craig Fultcher, adding to the Great Grey Shrike and Leach’s Petrel for the month.

Finally on to the rarer rarites of the month. A Pallid Harrier delighted two patches in Lincolnshire as both John Bradley and Nige Lound found it on their patches, Freiston and Gibraltar Point. Excellent work, a stunning bird. Staying on the east coast and Ryan Irvine at Hemsby had a day to remember as he found a Red-flanked Bluetail in the morning only to then find an Olive-backed Pipit 50m away in the afternoon of the 18^th. 27 points in one day! Nigel Millbourne at Blagdon had a good month, adding a Lesser Scaup, always a tricky species to ID and great find. An Azorean Gull at Marston STW for Dave Roberts was welcome bonus points. Finally, we head over to Dave Suddaby at Blacksod, Ireland and his male Two-barred Crossbill. An amazing find and extreme rarity for Ireland. Well done Dave! 

OBP at Hemsby

So that’s the autumn, can any of these excellent finds challenge for the best finds prize? We will have to wait and see, they have many good challengers from earlier in the year......

Forest Optics Best Find April

The Bresser & Forest Optics Best Find Competition is the highlight of the Patchwork Challenge year. This is the best find of the whole patchbirding year as voted for by you, the competitors. For the winner of the competition, those fine folk at Bresser & Forest Optics are very generously furnishing the winner of this esteemed competition with a pair of Bresser Montana 8.5 x 45 Binoculars worth £665.00. 

Hudsonian Godwit - thanks to James Packer

April and at last we have a mega found on patch, step forward Tom Raven with a Hudsonian Godwit on his Meare Heath patch. A cracking bird and a worthy addition to the best find of 2015 list, this is the first record since 1988 and a testament to Tom's perseverance after failing to initially clinch it on the Friday night. Will Tom win the binoculars? That's up to you at the end of the year when we hold the vote but its looking like a real contender.

Hudsonian Godwit - thanks to Howard Vaughan

                 

Another superb bird in terms of both rarity and looks was a Snowy Owl found and photographed by Dave Suddaby at Blacksod in Ireland. This is a bit of a patch speciality for Dave, it being neither his first or even his second on patch! He also managed to find a Hoopoe on patch in April so he's on a bit of a roll which is reflected in his standing in the points per bird league this month.

Snowy Owl - thanks to  Dave Suddaby

Only one Rough-legged Buzzard was found in April, so it looks like winter is finally loosing it's grip. Well done Chris Bradshaw at Long Nab with this patch tick and welcome six points. 

Alastair Forsyth gains his third Yankee quacker this year in the shape of an American Wigeon at his Old Nisthouse patch on Orkney. 

American Wigeon - Alistair Forsyth

A further transatlantic duck was John Bowlers' Green-winged Teal at his patch on Tiree. Moving south to Skomer, where  Jason Moss located an off course Wryneck, one of my favourite birds.  Even further south to Weymouth for a Black Kite which Joe Stockwell added to his patch list, always a good bird on anyone's patch.

East Anglia next and couple of scarce birds. Firstly Serin, found by our very own Ryan Irvine on his Hemsby patch. The second bird was Common Crane, two being seen on the coast at Southwold by Craig Fulcher, strangely enough across the other side of the country at Sker Farm in Wales, David Carrington also scored with two unringed Cranes.

There seems to have been a glut of Blue-headed Wagtails in the UK during April, no less than 6 patchworkers reported finding birds. Jason Moss gets his second mention for the bird he found on Skomer, Garry Taylor at Hornsea in Yorkshire was the most northerly, Steve Lyons and Carl Cornish both found birds on their patches in the Midlands, to the east and Holme Dunes NR where Robert Smith scored and last of all the south-west at Gwithian where Paul Freestone also connected. A putative Ashy-headed Wagtail also bagged the extra non-flavissima points for Toby Collett

May is well under way and as usual I am looking for photos of any good birds you find during the month for the round-up, email them to patchworkchallenge@gmail.com.

Last but not least how about a spot the godwit competition?

Hudsonian Godwit - thanks to Nick Robinson

Bresser and Forest Optics best find 2014 prize out in the field

Jonny Holliday has this to say about receiving his fabulous prize for the famous Pugneys Blyth's Pipit...

'So I have just received the prize for being the fortunate winner of 2014's PWC Best Find competition....and I must say it's a fantastic prize!!'

'So let me firstly say a huge THANK YOU to the sponsors -  Bresser and Forest Optics. Their generous support is appreciated by all involved in PWC I'm sure! 

I was lucky enough to receive a pair of the Bresser Montana 8.5x45 binoculars and as can be seen, they are a smart looking bit of kit. In the field they perform admirably and appear worth every bit of there retail value.' 

'It seemed only right to give them an initial trial in the recently re-named 'Blyths Field', and whilst they did not find another rare pipit, they did prove comfortable with excellent optical performance.'

'I'm sure the continued support from Bresser and the other generous sponsors will be a major driving force in the ever expanding Patchwork Challenge world - and to next year's winner of the best find - make it a big one because we will all be out there trying to find the next one!! 

Jonny '

Thanks Jonny, I hope you enjoy the prize. Remember everyone that you too can win these binoculars this year if you find something of similar calibre to Jonny's Blyth's Pipit or Andy Johnson's Semipalmated Plover back in 2013. Hudsonian Godwit is a pretty good start for PWC2015...

Bresser and Forest Optics Best Find March 2015

The Bresser and Forest Optics Best Find Competition is the highlight of the Patchwork Challenge year. This is the best find of the whole patchworking year as voted for by you, the competitors. 

For the winner of the competition, those fine folk at Bresser and Forest Optics are very generously furnishing the winner with a pair of Bresser Montana 8.5 x 45 Binoculars worth £665.00. Follow the link to check out this superb reward for one lucky contender.

Bonaparte's Gull at Tramore - thanks to Michael Cowming

March and still no mega's seen on patch anywhere, indeed PWC only had one rare bird during the month, Bonaparte's Gull. However there were a few of them in the UK and Ireland with two lucky patchworkers finding their own. Arlo Jacques at Tramore Blackstrand in Ireland, and John Bowler who found a first winter bird on patch at Balephuil on the Isle of Tiree. 

Ring-billed Gull at Pennyghael - Bryan Rains

Heading up the list of scarce birds seen in March was another gull, this time Ring-billed which was with birds found by four patchers and again in the western half of our area. 

Another of Brian's photos of the Ring-billed Gull

Ilya Maclean down at Loe Pool (Cornwall), with John Headon, Hugh Town and Lower Moors (Scilly Isles) not too far away. Travelling a little further north and west we get to Blacksod in Ireland where Dave Suddaby also found a bird. Probably the easiest of them of all was the one that walked into Bryan Rains garden at Pennyghael on Mull, a benefit of having your home within patch. 

The only other scarce bird with more than a single mention was Surf Scoter. Eammon O'Donnell found one at Ninch/Laytown in Ireland whilst Henry Cook on his Little Orme patch also came up trumps. 

In Norfolk, Alison Allen found 5 Common Crane on her Thorpe-Next-Haddiscoe patch meanwhile on the other side of the country at Ogmore Estuary in Wales, David Ripley scored with a Great White Egret. Other birds of note in March were Goshawk found on 3 separate patches, I'll not mention names or patches for obvious reasons but you know who you are guys. 

April looks to have a little more colour than this months slightly monochrome selection. The yanks are coming!

The Bresser and Forest Optics Best Find - February 2015

The Bresser & Forest Optics Best Find Competition is the highlight of the Patchwork Challenge year. This is the best find of the whole patchbirding year as voted for by you, the competitors. 

For the winner of the competition, those fine folk at Bresser &Forest Optics are very generously furnishing the winner of this esteemed competition with a prize tbc, hopefully next month we will be able to reveal all

February had been a somewhat mixed month weather-wise, starting off with colder than average temperatures before ending the month with them being slightly higher than average. This seems to have had a knock-on effect with the birding world.

The only rare of the month was the Bonaparte's Gull found at Llanelli WWT by Laurie Allnatt, well done that man! Not only finding the bird but getting a decent photo of it as well.

Bonaparte's Gull - Laurie Allnatt

 There were lots of scarce birds during the month, mainly multiple finds of a few species rather than loads of species. 

We'll start with Great White Egrets, or Great Egrets as we are supposed to call them now, 3 patchworkers found  them during the month; Anthony Bentley at his Frampton Marsh/ Frieston RSPB patch in Lincolnshire, also Drew Lyness at UEA in Norfolk and Dave Craven who had 3 birds on his Hale & Pickering Pasture patch in Cornwall. 

Next a couple of Ring-billed Gulls, oddly enough both in Ireland, one at Larne Lough found by Neil Warnock, the other on the Boyne Estuary picked up by Gerald Murray.   


Back to England for Great Grey Shrike, again a couple of birds, one on Benjamin Ward's patch at Aubourn in Lincolnshire and the other giving Matthew Dick the points on his patch in Darley Dale, Derbyshire.

The west of the PWC area had the next multiple sightings, Green-winged Teals for Balivanich in the Outer Hebrides, a nice one for Stuart Taylor and also for Eamonn O'Donnell at his Ninch/Laytown patch in Ireland. Keeping the Western trend going Pete Marsh had Cetti's Warbler on his Heysham and Middleton patch in Lancashire, the first winter record for his area. 
 

Green-winged Teal - Johnathan Farooqi

Moving across to the East of the map we have a couple of good birds found in Norfolk, starting with Crane for Gary White  at North Walsham/Trimingham and the only Rough-legged Buzzard on patch during February found by Tim Hodge at his Horsey Mill patch.

Mention should go to David McGrath who found a Dusky Warbler on his Marton Mere patch during January, a good winter record. David was late in registering on the challenge so we'll let him off this time. 

As I write March is half over and the first migrants are being picked up on the South coast, can't wait for next month's listings.