Estuarine - February 2015

A quiet month in the Estuarine league as everyone seems to be waiting for Spring to be sprung. Mark Nowers at Stutton leads the way in a comparative league which has some pretty impressive scoring, principally due to an excellent start in January. The Maldon due are close behind however with Russell Neave taking the honours in that patch battle.

Bird of the month goes to the Ring-Billed Gull which Paul Freestone finally caught up with at Hayle. There was some good seabird fare at Frampton / Freiston with Little Auk and Puffin putting in a showing along with a Velvet Scoter. Great White Egret was recorded on both east and west side of the country, whilst an Iceland Gull at Hale and Pickerings helped Dave Craven to pick up points.

In a strong scoring league, Frampton / Freiston dominate the top of the scoring charts with John Badley outpointing Anthony Bentley after two months. Dave Craven is representing the west in third place but a lot of runners and riders are waiting in the wings with many patches already scoring 100 points and 7 already over 100 species with the Spring just around the corner!

Coastal East Anglia - February 2015

The comparative scores in the Coastal EA mini league so far indicate that its going to a close run thing with 8.5% separating the top 6. Craig Fulcher remains at the top despite not adding anything to his January scores with Tommy Corcoran and Gary White leap frogging James Brown into 2nd and 3rd respectively. With spring on its way in March I can see more significant moves in the table by the end of month.

With James Brown having a quiet month in Lowetoft it has enabled Robert Smith at Holme and last years big hitter, Tim Hodge at Horsey to overtake him, although there are only 5 points separating them all. No real rarities to speak of this month as the patchers mopped up the needed winter birds such as Glaucous Gulls, Bean Geese, Jack Snipe and Black-throated Divers. Tim still leads the way with BirdTracking effort, surpassing 2000 records already!

Inland East Anglia - February 2015

Nick Robinson continues his good start to the year with a mighty 86% already, a good spring should see him pass the 100% surely! Its hotting up behind him as 2.5% separates the next 5 patches, the only movement among these see's Nick Moran leap frog James Appleton into 3rd. Jonny Rankin will be hoping for an early spring before he heads off on Dove Step 2.

Ben Lewis is still leading the way in the points league but its getting close as Nick Moran closes the gap to 5 points. Ashley McElwee makes up the top 3 and the only other patch to reach 100 points so far. The chasing pack are all tightly bunched together so a good March could see this all change!

Bid of the month was probably Great White Egret, becoming more regular but always a nice 6 point addition. There were some very good patch birds reported in February as Goshawks, Scaup, Goosanders, Jack Snipe, geese and swans featuring on more than one patch highlight and Alison Allen finally caught up with the wintering Rough-legged Buzzard at Haddiscoe.

Perhaps unsurprisingly this mini league excels in BirdTrack effort with Mr BirdTrack himself leading the way and inspiring the rest.

South West Minileague - August

Local leader Joe Stockwell adds the national lead to his crown and is closing on 300 points. 359 last year was enough to win it - can Joe do it? Kev Rylands may well be handing his SW crown over but he continues to fight on whilst Sean Foote who patches North Portland is challenging just 14 points back. Most of this months best finds are Joe's with Wryneck, Stone Curlew, Cory's Shearwater and Long-tailed Skua all garnering bonus points. Kev managed to see a Rose-coloured Starling but somebody else beat him to the punch. A Red-neck Phalarope for Paul Bowerman meant he held near namesake Paul Bowyer at bay. Plenty of points for Gordon Hodgson without any finds as two Cattle Egrets and a Marsh Sandpiper graced Saul Warth.

Paul Bowyer loses top spot as Dan Chaney hits 94% but its extremely close with 5% covering the top 6 places. Marcus Lawson is now in third but the comparative league is anyone's game and extremely competitive!

London Minileague - August

A good turnout in this league with 8 of the 14 patches submitting scores for August. Some good little battles are cropping up all down the table, not least at the top where Adam Bassett retains the top spot thanks to self-found Honey Buzzard and Osprey. His lead has been cut to 5 points by Nick Croft at Rainham who was aided by a Spotted Crake during the month. Nick's Wanstead patch moves up to the last podium position although Marek is still within touching distance so it could all change yet.

Michael Terry remains in the lead of the comparison league and is joined by Adam Bassett in the 100% club. A good autumn for any of these competitors could change everything however.

Inland Scotland Minileague - August

The best bits in August for Inland Scotland were an Osprey for Alastair Irvine and a Wood Sandpiper for Chris P at Kinneil, the latter coincides with a jump from eleventh to eighth. At the sharp end the positions remain the same with Alastair Forsyth at Old Nisthouse top on 156 points and Rory Whytock in second with 117 points. Graeme Garner is in third at Cambus on 116 points.

Alastair Forsyth has continued his fine year and he also remains in contention for the overall prize with nearly 122%. Nobody else is particularly close to three figures but competition is fierce with 5% covering 2nd-5th. Andy Cage is in 2nd with 84.2% and on the third step of the podium is Chris Pendlebury with 83.3% on his Dunblane patch.

Inland East Anglia - August

Not a huge amount was found in Inland East Anglia in August with a scattering of passage waders including Curlew Sandpipers and Wood Sandpipers. The best bird was a Great White Egret at North Potter Higham for Tab. This all leaves Jamie Wells top of the tree as the first to 200 points. Ben Lewis draws within 7 points in the Mid Yare Valley. Steve Swinney is level in third place with Ed Keeble. Russell Neave at Maldon jumps a couple of spots into sixth and Tab also climbs two spots to eighth.

Still the same three players over 100% with Steve in first place at Linford whilst Jim Bradley has jumped into second with 106%.  Mark Nowers drops to third place.

Midlands Minileague - August

 Ian Cowgill is top of the tree and whilst his lead has fallen to 25 points he is comfortably out front from John Hopper at Hoveringham. Nick Crouch stays in third at Collingham & Besthorpe. Mark Gash's self found Glossy Ibis along with being the only bonus points in August also takes him above the NGB chairman Matthew Bruce. Espen Quinto-Aspen moves up from 16th to 11th in this months big change.

No change in the order and still no 100%'ers in the comparative league. Matt Griffiths is still top at Earlswood. Nick Crouch and Richard Harbird are in second and third places with all scores over 90% - maybe next month the barrier will be broken.

South West Minileague - June

This month we end on a biggie! There are some terrific patches with huge scores in the South West - with 6 patches scoring higher than Topsham, in spite of it's multigull madness earlier in the year. Joe Stockwell is in first place at Portland, a massive 34 points (but only 4 species) ahead of Kev Rylands at Dawlish Warren. Joe's place at the top was consolidated this month by self found pallid swift, and bee-eater. Interestingly, Sean Foote, also patching Portland is only three species behind Joe, but with a gap of 44 points. I can believe that south portland might be better in terms of quality than north portland, but I never expected a gap of that magnitude. It can all change in an autumnal raise of the bins (or maybe a few, in this case) so lets see what Sean can pull out of the bag.

Paul Bowyer takes the top spot in the comparative league, with a gaggle of 5 in the peloton scoring between 80 and 90%. Just one good bird will take Paul past the 100% mark.  

London Minileague - June

Some great scores coming in from capital city so far this year. Adam Bassett and Nick Croft are in equal 1st place in terms of species seen, but Adam is well ahead in terms of points (well, by 6...). This is in spite if Nicks self found Blyth's reed back in may, reflecting the fact that Adams 120 spp must have a little more quality scattered through them than Nicks. Marek Walford is only just very slightly off the pace species wise, but his 8 species will need to be worth 19 points if he is to make up that ground properly.

Micheal Terry and Jason Reynolds are in the top two spots, with the big points hitters of Adam and Marek in third and fourth. All of these big scores (in terms of species, the top London patches were only just behind my coastal June tally) are definitely challenging my preconceptions that birding in the big smoke must be dull. Well done all round.

Wales Minileague - June

Steve Stansfield has managed to overtake Ben Porter as top of the pops in Wales. It seemed to have been coming as the gap narrowed month by month and with Ben putting up stern resistance with some great finds. Can Steve hold on? Four points isnt much of a lead. Their joint find of a Blyth's Reed Warbler is the Welsh highlight for June. Barry Stewart remains in third place. Best of the rest was a Great White Egret at Kenfig for Darren Coombs but this must be a repeated performance as he has only gained one point this month.

It may be a little spartan in terms of numbers of species at LlanfairTH but this isnt stopping AlisonC having a great year there and she is on nearly 128% and certainly a contender for the overall competitive prize. Henry Cook is in second with 94% thanks in part to May's Black Stork. It looks like he will be the second person past the 100% mark. Adam Tilt at Cefn Drum is in third.

Coastal North Minileague - June

A very slow month for this league, a fact which made clear when only 7 of the 17 competitors submitted scores for June! The biggest gain was made by Iain Robson who, with highlights of Bonxie and Roseate Tern, added 11 points to leapfrog Alan Tilmouth into 5th position, the only change in places in the top 10.  Up top only Jane Turner increased her score, a Puffin sees her close the gap to Martin Garner in second to just 10 points. There were no 3-pointers in the highlights or best finds so it was down to the 2-pointers to provide some quality, the best being Cuckoo and Black Tern for Seamus Eaves at Fleetwood and Chris Bradshaw's Quail at Long Nab.

No change in terms of position in the comparative league but Alan Tilmouth retains a healthy lead at the top, just 13% away from reaching his score from last year. Behind him however the battle for second place is hotting up, less then 4% separates Jane Turner, Iain Robson and James Spencer, the latter gaining 8% to help close up on the chasing group.

Coastal East Anglia Minileague - June

Stuck record time - Tim Hodge is still at the top and it's going to take a multi mega miracle to top him! James Brown is the only one with a chance of catching up, being a mere 45 points behind, but third place is Gary White who is 73 points off the pace. Thats only 5 self found firsts for Britain...

It might all be about the battle for third place in this minileague. At least there looks like there might be a bit of a fight...

Nick Andrews is out in front on the comparative league, with a small margin, nothing like the massive gaps above. He's about 7% ahead of Gary White, who in turn is 8% ahead of Craig Fulcher. Craig is doing the decent thing and keeping our Ryan out of the top three....but it could all change if someone has a good autumn.

Inland East Anglia Minileague - June

Another minileague and another desert for bonus points with Ben Moyes' Ring Ouzel at Needham Market an unseasonal treat and the highlight for June. The top three managed one point between them with Ed Keeble closing the gap by a fraction to Ben Lewis in second. Despite his blank month Jamie Wells stays out front. Hobby and Spotted Flycatcher graced a handful of patches but weren't the patch gold that many would have hoped for. Steve Swinney managed to climb into 4th with five points this month pushing Mark Nowers into fifth.

Despite dropping a place in the points league Mark Nowers at Stutton stays top of the comparative league with 106%. Jim Bradley remains in second place and Steve Swinney becomes the third member of the hundred club. Congratulations to all three contestants on getting there so quickly. Will Mike M be next?

Ireland Minileague - June

The half time, mid-summer lull has resulted in no major shake-up in the Irish mini-league bar a change at the top of the points table where Niall Keogh’s Kilcoole patch overtakes Dave Suddaby’s Blacksod patch for first place by a matter of five points (but with a notable difference of 26 species between the two… a direct result of a higher number of rarities found out West, epitomised by Dave’s highest points per bird score in the Irish mini-league with 1.56 ppb ensuring a comfortable lead in that respect).

The O’Donnell brothers maintain their lead on the percentage tables, both of which are now well into the 90% bracket. Michael added eight new species since May, moving up one place on the points table but more significantly taking Eamonn’s first place title on the percentage table. 

The lack of rarities found by Irish PWC participants came as no great surprise give that June was relatively quiet across the country. The addition of Roseate Tern to several lists was evident, most notably at Julian Wylie’s Baltimore patch in Cork where it is no doubt a very good local and county bird. Other good local patch finds included Neal Warnock’s 2nd record of Pochard at Larne Lough and Niall Keogh’s 3rd record of Osprey at Kilcoole. 

For more news and pics from Irish local patches check out the Patch Birding Ireland blog.

Midlands Minileague - June

As might be expected, June proved a quiet month with most migrants having now arrived and additions few and far between. This was perhaps reflected by fewer submissions at the month end, and thereby a number of scores that have not moved in the month.

Ian Cowgill at Lound still heads the way, breaking the 150 species barrier this month and racking up an impressive 184 points. A Red-Necked Phalarope for Andy Mackay at Eyebrook keeps him in third, spoiling the Nottinghamshire party at the top of the table as John Hopper and Nick Crouch on their respective patches make up an impressive top 4.

14 patchers are now totalling over 100 species for the year. An honorary mention has to go to the 5 birders who have topped 1000 bird track records, in particular Andy Sims who has topped 5000 records including his first Little Tern in 31 years! Great going Andy!

 

With autumn migration about to start, our 5 patchers with a comparative score are all looking to beat last years totals. Matt Griffiths at Earlswood leads the way, but he can't rest on his laurels as the rest of the pack are bunching up close behind.





 



Inland North Minileague - June

At the end of June, the league is looking like a three horse race (albeit with two horses?!). Wayne Gillett continues to battle with the Darren Starkey double, but loses his top spot to Darren's Fairburn Ings patch. Contrary to the experience of many patchers, these three sites brought in some good birds in June with Fairburn and St Aidan's hosting a very popular Glossy Ibis, a Pectoral Sandpiper at St Aidan's and 2 Ruddy Shelduck added a splash of colour to Wayne's Alkborough patch. All three of these patches are now over the 150 species mark.

Whilst Tom Lowe has fewer species at his Goole Fields patch than the leaders, his point per bird of 1.375 leads the way, indicating an exceptional year at the site.

Andy Bunting at Martin Mere joined the growing number of patchers in the month to add Glossy Ibis to their totals. James Common meanwhile exemplified what patching is all about, with highlights of an inland Arctic Skua sitting on almost equal footing with a patch first Coot. Patch gold takes many forms!

Many patchers are now using the birdtrack app to record their sightings. Andy Bunting has racked up a phenomenal 8909 species on 318 complete lists whilst Steven Ward has topped 5000  records at the halfway point in the year.

 

In the comparative league, two patchers are topping the 90% mark. Mark Reeder drops to 4th place as James Common takes top spot, but it's a close competition with plenty of time to run. The second half of the year is where additions get harder and just a couple of great patch moments could make all the difference as autumn wader passage gets underway.

Inland Scotland Minileague - June

A slightly livelier month when compared with the South Coast but still pretty steady. Despite this there were bonus points for Graeme Garner as he found a Glossy Ibis at Cambus. Even better for Graeme is this moved him ahead of Simon Pinder and into the top three. The top two remain the same with Alastair heading it up at Old Nisthouse with a 37 point lead with this months highlight, a calling Corncrake, ticked whilst he was recumbent in bed. The leading Chris Pendlebury remains the Dunblane CP. The other CP's need to work a bit harder to be honest.

As well as heading up the points league Alastair's great year is confirmed by his 111% score in the comparative league which heads the table. Chris is still in second at Dunblane and Andy Cage has managed to overtake Mr Shuttleworth and climb into third.

South Coast Minileague - June

To say it was quiet on the South Coast in June would be to understate the case. Five scores were submitted and only four of these actually advanced anybodies scores. Andy Rhodes had the best update adding 43 points since his last update and moving up from 10th to 5th. There was no movement at the top and best finds were Red Kite for Neil Burt, Quail for Adam Faiers and Hobby for Mark Lawlor. Bad news when it is all two pointers! Still - its autumn now.

No change at all here with Adam and Mark adding 1% each and we move on...

South Coast Minileague - February

A quiet month on the South Coast with only four submissions but some decent patch birds with Chris Dennis and Andy Johnson both recording White-fronted Geese and Andy managed a rather snazzy Black Brant. Joost Brandsma managed a Water Pipit at Lower Test with Mark Lawlor getting only his second Little Gull for his patch on Guernsey. In terms of positioning the Top three remain static with Andy Johnson continuing to score big in first place at Sandy Point. Adam Faiers retains second place at Sandwich Bay and Mark Lawlor just manages to fend off Joost to hold on to third. Joost had a great February adding 11 species and 15 points meaning he climbed above Harry Ramm into fourth. Andy Rhodes managed to overhaul Neil Burt and to rub salt in Chris Dennis's first submission puts him in above Neil as well.

This smallest of comparative minileagues changes with Mark now heading the league up with 58%. Adam's score remains the same whilst Andy Johnson does his best to close the gap which remains large thanks to his monster comparative score.