Coastal Scotland Minileague - December 2016

A busy year with many highlights for the Coastal Scotland Minileague, exemplified by the fact that no less than nine of the eleven Comparative Minileague contestants reached or surpassed their 100% target!

Chris Rodger had a fantastic time of it at Musselburgh where Scaup and Tawny Owl added to his tally in December left him safely in first place with an enviable comp score of 128.42%, a good 13% or so ahead of second place Mike Hodgkin at Aberlady Bay (who had the highest number of species seen on any patch in the minileague).

Stephen Welch and Andrew Whitehouse remain in third and fourth place at Gosford Bay and Girdle Ness & Torry respectively while Jim Dickson, Mark Lewis and Chris Hill all move up a place or two during December to finish on fifth, sixth and seventh from their respective patches.

Eastern Black Redstart at Torness (c) Geoff Morgan

Geoff Morgan rounded off a very successful year of finding scarce and rare birds at Barns Ness with a cracking Eastern Black Redstart at Torness at the start of December. What a bird and a major 15 point boost to his score bringing him up to 268 points from 167 species, securing his lead on the points table and ensuring a very fine PPB of 1.605! Talk about going out in style!

Waxwings were new in December for Colin Davison at Scoughall and Mark Lewis at Girdle Ness (who also got in on the #patchgold action with Little Grebe) while Chris Hill added three waders (Ruff, Greenshank and Woodcock) at Burntisland.

A Great Grey Shrike was an excellent addition to Jim Dickson's Crinan Canal Corridor patch along with three Black Grouse, a species which doesn't often get mentioned in PWC Minileague blog posts!

Mark Lewis led the charge in terms of BirdTrack effort for the year, breaking past 200 complete lists and 10,000 records.

Coastal Scotland Minileague - November 2016

A familiar look at the top of the comparative league as the top 5 remains the same with little added over November. Waxwings were the bird of the month, recorded in at least 5 of the patches including the table toppers Chris Rodgers at Musselburgh, Stephen Welch at Gosford and Andrew Whitehouse at Girdle Ness. Other than that it was a quiet month for the coastal Scotland stalwarts, here's hoping December brings more joy.

Star bird for November on the Scottish coast

A similar story in the points league as the top 5 remain the same and very few points added throughout the league. The biggest winner in November was Colin Davison as a great seawatch closed the gap to the top spot by adding Little Auk, Grey Phalarope and Slavonian Grebe, a terrific trio! A good December could see him snatch top spot from Geoff Morgan. It is also a tight contest for 3rd place with only 4 points separating Mike Hodgkin and Chris Rodger, who will claim the bronze medal with a good December?

Coastal Scotland Minileague - October 2016

For some, the rarities were flowing in the Coastal Scotland Minileague in October.

Geoff Morgan played a blinder, with bonus points bagged for Blyth's Reed Warbler and Great Grey Shrike at Barns Ness. Also on his patch this month were Dusky Warbler, Red-breasted Flycatcher and a fall of Pallas's Warblers! Despite dipping Olive-Backed Pipit and Radde's Warbler it still made for a sensational few weeks on the patch.

Bird of the month however graced Andrew Whitehouse's Girdle Ness patch where he caught up with a stunning Daurian Shrike! 

Daurian Shrike at Girdle Ness (c) Andrew Whitehouse

Chris Rodger's lead in the comparative minileague with 125.6% looks unassailable with just two months to go. The highlight at his Musselburgh patch was a Snow Bunting, a real sign that winter is on the way.

Meanwhile, Mike Hodgkin stole a march on Stephen Welch, putting a bit of distance between second and third with a patch first Shore Lark at Aberlady Bay plus a Tawny Owl, the first in the two years doing PWC.

 

Colin Davison's frustrations were reflected in his highlights, where despite bonus points for a Yellow-browed Warbler, the rares turning up elsewhere on the coast were not reflected on his Scoughall patch. Consequently Geoff Morgan takes the top spot in the points league with a healthy 12 point gap. Mike Hodgkin makes up the top three.

Now four contestant over 200 points here while we await an update from Mark Lewis who is bound to brake through into the big leagues.

Jim Dickson at Crinan Canal Corridor also had a Yellow-browed Warbler in the last year that this little sprite will attract the bonus points. White-tailed Eagle also featured in his list of highlights from Argyll.

Much to his relief, Jonathan Clarke finally got Black-tailed Godwit at Whiteness Head after a long wait!

Coastal Scotland Minileague - September 2016

September brings lots of activity to the Coastal Scotland Comparative Minileague with almost every contestant increasing their comp scores.

Chris Rodger remains in first pace at Musselburgh, now on a hefty 116.9% after adding bonus points in the form of Long-tailed Skua.

Light-bellied Brent Geese at Musselburgh (c) Chris Rodger

Mike Hodgkin and Stephen Welch continue to battle it out for second place with Mike taking the spot this month but only by a matter of .01%!!! His gains were more significant compared to last months score with a four skua day on 11th September increasing his Aberlady Bay comp score from 100% to 107%. It was a Black-tailed Godwit at Gosford Bay which helped Stephen move from 105% to 107%, the species being less than annual there.

Tor Hamilton becomes the fourth contestant to reach 100% in the minileague, doing so at Leith.

Long-tailed Skuas certainly proved popular, Colin Davison also getting in on the action here, bumping up his points score at Scoughall to 222, taking him into first place from third by 1 point! This moves Mike and Chris down to second and third respectively.

Yellow-browed Warbler was bound to make it onto a patch list somewhere here during September and it was Andrew Whitehouse who listed it as a highlight for the month. More to come no doubt!

Some serious challenges for ranking position are being made across the Coastal Scotland Minileague as September draws to a close. With October to play for, it could get very interesting here!

Coastal Scotland Minileague - August 2016

White-rumped Sandpiper © Mark Lewis

Chris Rodger continues in first place on the Coastal Scotland Comparative Minileague table with a strong lead at Musselburgh where a patch tick Black Tern during August brought him to 112.5%.

The third record of Shoveler for Stephen Welch's Gosford Bay patch see him progress to 105.4% but remaining in second place. Mike Hodgkin reached his 100% target during the month at Aberlady Bay, which sees him take up third place having moved here from sixth. 

Mike's good fortunes continue into the Coastal Scotland Points Minileague where he steals first place from former table leader, Chris Rodger. Only two points separate the two who are on 208 and 206 points respectively. Colin Davison is also making a move for the title with 204 points in third place from his Scoughall patch where he was awarded 6 points for a Cory's Shearwater find. Mark Lewis and Geoff Morgan are also lurking at the bottom of the Top 5 here with points scores well into the 190's so between these five contestants, the battle for first place may get interesting through September and October.

Mark finished up just one point shy of 200 by the end of August with the obvious highlight being a superb White-rumped Sandpiper which graced a classic piece of Girdle ness habitat: a car park puddle! Views were simply stunning (as you can see from the pic above) and Andrew Whitehouse was also able to connect with it for his Girdle ness and Torry patch list.

Geoff Morgan had a productive month at Barns Ness with Long-tailed Skua (bonus points), Mediterranean Gull, Marsh Harrier and Curlew Sandpiper all contributing to a fine haul.

Coastal Scotland - July 2016

Chris Rodger maintains top spot in a quiet July. He along with Andrew Whitehouse at Girdleness added Cuckoo to the year list this month. Stephen Welch closed the gap a little with Roseate Tern and a Kingfisher which graced his isolated little patch of inland water. It is a good time of year to find this fabulous little bird on smaller bodies of water it seems.

Chris and Stephen are the only patchers to have breached the 100% marker so far this year.

Chris Rodger also tops the points league with the gap to Colin Davison still substantial, reduced only slightly as Colin added Roseate Tern in month. Mike Hodgkin at Aberlady Bay makes up the top three, adding just a Kestrel to the patch list in July.

Other highlights in the month a King Eider at Northeast Aberdeen and Donmouth for Andrew Whitehouse and a Curlew Sandpiper, preceding the August invasion at Loch Gilp for Jim Dickson. Finally, a late record of a couple of Spoonbills in June was a fine record for Geoff Morgan at Barns Ness.

Spoonbills are not easy north of the border, a Scottish, Lothian and patch tick for Geoff Morgan in June (c/o Geoff Morgan)

Coastal Scotland Minileague - June 2016

 

The message that June is a quiet month for adding points clearly didn't get through to Chris Rodger at Musselburgh as he hit the 200 point mark and extended his lead in both the comparative and points tables. Highlight of the month was a King Eider which bagged bonus points. In addition, Chris found both Little and Roseate Terns on patch, the former being a patch tick.

 

Stephen Welch closes in on the magic 100% marker with the Gull-Billed Tern at Foray making a brief sojourn to Gosford Bay, perching for just twenty second before taking off again. Right time, right place!

 

Gull-Billed Tern on its brief visit to Gosford Bay (c/o Stephen Welch)

 

Jim Dickson at Crinan Canal Corridor taken third spot this month adding Long-Tailed Duck and Crossbill in the month.

 

In the points league, Colin Davidson and Mike Hodgkin are pushing Chris Rodger in top spot. All three are in the 140's for species, but those all important bonus pointers give Chris a stronger points per bird. Plenty of time left to go!



Coastal Scotland Minileague - May 2016

Chris Rodger finishes the month of May within striking distance of reaching his 100% target in the Coastal Scotland Comparative Minileague. An excellent month for him at Musselburgh lands him on 98.3% and still in first place thanks to highlights which included a Golden Oriole (found by fellow PWC birder, Colin Davison) and a 'superciliarus'-type Yellow Wagtail which would seem to have a lot of feldegg in it.

A Short-eared Owl was Stephen Welch's fourth record for his Godford Bay patch where he remains in second place for another month. Tor Hamilton climbs to fifth place from eight at Leith where a Grey Heron during May was a first that far upriver for the patch. Andrew Whitehouse is also making tracks moving up from ninth to seventh at Girdle Ness and Torry with a Red-backed Shrike providing bonus points there.

Red-backed Shrike and Wryneck at Barns Ness © Geoff Morgan

Colin Davison holds on to first place in the Coastal Scotland Points Minileague for another month with Black Tern, Iceland Gull and Humpback Whale added (although no points for the latter!). He is just two points ahead of Mike Hodgkin at Aberlady Bay however who pipped Chris Rodger to the post for second place. The top three are all in the 140 and 180 points bracket at the end of May so it will be interesting to see how the rankings pan out through the somewhat quite summer period before autumn kicks in.

Geoff Morgan holds onto his fourth place raking at Barns Ness with 169 points, an equal score to Jim Dickson at the Crinan Canal Corridor who has a higher species count but is beaten by Geoff on the basis of Points Per Bird. The male Red-backed Shrike and Wryneck picture above contributed to this for Geoff.

Eleswhere, a Glossy Ibis at Starnafin Pools for Lorna Dow at RSPB Loch of Strathbeg was the only other notable highlight of the month.

Coastal Scotland Minileague - April 2016

Chris Rodger takes over in the lead of the Coastal Scotland comparative minileague as he crests 90% at Musselburgh. His highlight this month was a spring Redstart. Stephen Welch drops into second after a quiet month as he spent half of it in China. Mike Hodgkin of Aberlady Bay moves up into third just 0.3% ahead of Jim Dickson.

Colin Davison, who patches Scoughall in Lothian, is top of the Coastal Scotland points league after finding a very fine spring Olive-backed Pipit. Chris Rodger is in second place just three points behind Colin while Mike Hodgkin holds the third step on the rostrum in both minileagues.

Olive-backed Pipit - Colin Davison

There were more good birds found by patchers north of the border as Geoff Morgan found a Caspian Gull at Barns Ness just a day after it was seen in Aberdeenshire. Caspian Gull remains a mega in Scotland and this birds distinctive primaries meant that it was picked up in Northern England as well. Mark Lewis adds Shore Lark at Girdle Ness along with Garganey and his third patch record of Moorhen. 

Coastal Scotland Minileague - March 2016

March finally saw Chris Rodger swiped from his perch at the top of the comparative leader board. Adding another 5% wasn't quite enough for him to hold onto his reign at the top. Stepping up to the plate is Stephen Welch and his Gosford Bay patch. He managed an impressive leap from third place with 17% gained since February!

At Aberlady Bay, Mike Hodgkin is also progressing up the league table with an 8% increase, moving him into fourth place and hot on the heels of Andrew Whitehouse who didn't manage to add a single species for the month.

He may have slipped on the comparative scores but Chris Rodger isn't giving up the top spot on the points league. With a tidy haul of birds including Black-throated Diver, he's increased his lead over second place by seven points.

Adding Iceland Gull could prevent Geoff Morgan and his Barns Ness patch dropping into fourth place as Stephen Welch and Mike Hodgkin move up the points league. Iceland Gull featured elsewhere this month, with Colin Davison (Scoughall) and Andrew Whitehouse (Girdle Ness and Torry) both connecting with a white-winger.

Iceland Gull, Barns Ness (credit: Geoff Morgan)

Highlights were slim for March with Iceland Gull gracing the three patches mentioned above and a small selection of waterbirds enjoyed by Stephen Welch at Gosford Bay - Whooper and Pale-bellied Brent Goose. Stephen yet again impressed with his BirdTrack recording, managing 581 record submissions! Elsewhere, Common Crossbill was encountered by Jonathan Clarke at Whiteness Head and a Red-necked Grebe for Geoff Morgan at Barns Ness.

Coastal Scotland Minileague - February 2016

The leader of the Coastal Scotland Comparative Minileague (now there's a mouthful!) for February is Chris Rodger at Musselburgh. Remaining firmly planted at the top with an extra ten species for the month sees his lead over Andrew Whitehouse at Northeast Aberdeen and Donmouth increase to five percent. Andrew himself only managed to add one extra to his species total for the month, however, he didn't have to sweat for 2nd position as Stephen Welch's score remained unchanged at his Gosford Bay patch this month.

Further down the leader board, little change is seen, with only Jim Dickson  managing to knock our very own Mark Lewis down into seventh place. Although, Mark did manage cracking views of Slavonian Grebe at Girdle Ness which may slightly take the sting out of dropping a place on the board!

Slav Grebe at Girdle Ness (Credit: Mark Lewis)

With the majority having already broken the 50% milestone in February, there could be a bit of a shakeup for position on the leader board next month.

Not satisfied with leading the comparative minileague, Chris Rodger also tops the points minileague again with 108 species, giving him 133 points. Geoff Morgan at Barns Ness and Mike Hodgkin at Aberlady Bay both added species and points this month leaving their positions unchanged in second and third place. However, with only three points difference between them, will the places remain unchanged in March? Geoff also managed some awesome shots of his patch Shorties at Barns Ness - a firm favourite to see over the winter.

Short-eared Owl, Barns Ness (Credit: Geoff Morgan)

Short-eared Owl, Barns Ness (Credit: Geoff Morgan)

At Scoughall, Colin Davison made the biggest advance up the league this month. Adding a stonking twenty-nine species and an extra forty-two points, he somersaulted from seventh to fourth place, leaving him only ten points behind a podium position. If he carries on in this fashion, the top three better watch out!

Coastal Scotland Minileagues - January 2016

Chris Rodger is top of the comparative minileague for Coastal Scotland with 67% and a lead of 0.5% thanks to a Surf Scoter and a brace of patch ticks in the form of Green Woodpecker and Black Guillemot. After a flying start to the year at Donmouth, Andrew Whitehouse is in second position. His Thayer's type gull is the highlight. Stephen Welch in third has managed to top the ton and with a comparative score of 165 he is well on course for a new best score. This months highlights for him included a raft of seabirds such as Great Northern Diver, Great Skua and Black Guillemot but his highlight was Chiffchaff. In fourth position is Chris Hill at Burntisland who is also over the 60% mark ad only 4% back on the lead and his highlight was a Peregrine chasing Little Auks.

The leader in January for the points minileague is also Chris Rodger. Second place goes to Geoff Morgan at Barns Ness thanks to a plethora of geese including a Tundra Bean. At Aberlady Bay, Mike Hodgkin has bagged 114 points in the first month including bonus points for a Surf Scoter. Stephen Welch is in fourth spot, 9 points further behind whilst podcast maestro Mark Lewis is on 95 points in fifth after patch ticking Red-necked Grebe and adding Glaucous Gull and 'loads' of Little Auks.

Tundra Bean Goose, Barns Ness - Geoff Morgan

Coastal Scotland Minileague - December 2015

Stephen Welch finished his #PWC2015 efforts at Gosford Bay with 142 species, his highest total in the past few years. This success earned him first place in the Coastal Scotland Comparative Minileague with 109.3%. Well deserved with some excellent BirdTrack-ing thrown in for good measure.

Close behind in second place is Mark Lewis at Girdle ness who added Glaucous Gull in December and finished on 102.7% with 156 species, his own highest total in recent years also. Solid patch effort (as shown by 10,000+ records and 210 complete lists submitted to BirdTrack) resulted in some great finds and getting past 200 species for his patch life list.

Glaucous Gull © Mark Lewis

Andrew Whitehouse remained on 97% and in third place while some New Year's Eve Little Auk passage bumped Chris Hill up to fourth place with 93% at Burntisland. 

Mark's final tally of 227 points at Girdle ness ensured his first place position in the points minileague while Mike Hodgkin ended his patch efforts for the year in November but managed to break past 200 points in the process and consolidate his second place position.

After a two month drought, Jonathan Clarke connected with three patch ticks on New Year's Eve (a good day to go birding it would seem!) at Whiteness Head. Tystie, Slavonian Grebe and 170 Little Auks saw him finish in sixth. 

Coastal Scotland Minileague - November 2015

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).

Coastal Scotland Minileague - October 2015

Stephen Welch stays top of the comparative minileague for Coastal Scotland and adds 3% in the process with Barnacle Geese and Whooper Swans the source of his points. Mark Lewis gets oh so near to the 100% benchmark as he stands on 99%. This month he got bonus points for Yellow-browed Warbler and Siberian Chiffchaff and backed that up with a brace of patch ticks in the form of Smew and Treecreeper. Andrew Whitehouse overhauls Jim Dickson to move into third place at Girdle Ness and Torry with 93.8% adding 7% this time out.

Mark Lewis continues at the top of the points league for Coastal Scotland with a 20 point cushion from Mike Hodgkin at Aberlady Bay. We have already heard how Mark got on but Mike also added plenty of points with 23 accrued in October. Mike got his first bonus points this month with a self found Surf Scoter as well as a patch American Golden Plover which whilst not a find was three more points on the total. Jim Dickson at Crinan Canal managed just three points and meant he fell to third this time out despite adding Short-eared Owl and Brambling.

Away from the podium places there were highlights with a Firecrest for Peter Stronach at Durness and Balnakeil, a self-found Long-tailed Skua for Chris Rodger at Musselburgh which give half a dozen points to the finder who also added Lapland Bunting.

Coastal Scotland Minileagues - September 2015

Stephen Welch is the first to reach the 100% milestone in the Coastal Scotland Comparative Minileague after a fine September at Gosford Bay where a male Surf Scoter, Black-throated Diver and his second patch Merlin in 11 years brought him to 134 species and 161 points.

Mark Lewis finally got around to submitting his scores! With a comp score of 93.6%, he is catapulted all the way from last place to second, a feat greatly assisted by some excellent patch finds at Girdle ness (detailed below).

Also at Girdle ness (and Torry), Andrew Whitehouse added 8 new species and 8% to his comp score, helping him keep his hold on fourth place. Bullfinch was a good patch find for him there.

An epic September of patch birding at Girdle ness for Mark Lewis started with a cracking Red-footed Falcon (which showed extremely well) and was quickly followed up a couple of days later by his long awaited 200th patch tick in the form of a Sabine's Gull. It's product flurries like that which patch birders savour most. Mark also connected with all round good patch birds like Pochard, Grey Plover and Yellow Wagtail.

The result of all this? Mark now sits firmly on top of the points minileague table with a very respectable 147 species, 207 points and 1.4 PBB.

Jonathan Clarke had a good month at Whiteness Head where Great Skua, Great Northern Diver, 7 Grey Plover and a Jay were all top patch birds for him. The Grey Plover count was his highest to date and the Jay a recent colonist to the area.

Over half of the contestants on the table are now clear of 150 points. With October ahead of them, we're likely to see several gains for contestants in the Coastal Scotland minileague.

Red-footed Falcon © Mark Lewis

Coastal Scotland - August 2015

Stephen Welch and Jim Dickson both added four new species to their patch year lists in August. Jim has the higher species list and points total along the Crinan Canal Corridor yet it is Stephen who continues to top the Coastal Scotland Comparative Minileague with over 95% at Gosford Bay (and a fine BirdTrack effort too with over 110 complete lists and 2000 records entered to date!). 

Jim's highlights for the month included a juvenile Yellow-legged Gull (an excellent bird for Argyll), Wood Sandpiper and Curlew Sandpiper. Stephen did very well during August with a mighty three #fullfatpatchticks: Little Ringed Plover, Green Sandpiper and Ruff.

Jim Dickson's list of additions in August see him top the points minileague again this month while Mike Hodgkin moves ever closer in second place at Aberlady Bay where no less than 10 new species awaited him during the month including Black Tern and Roseate Tern. Some classic early migrants were highlights for Peter Stronach at Durness (Pied Flycatcher) and Andrew Whitehouse at Girdle Ness (Wryneck). Jonathan Clarke added eight new species in August including Grey Partridge, Greenshank, Puffin and two Hobbies, placing him in third on the points table.