Inland East Anglia - November 2016

During November it became apparent that it was going to be a 'Waxwing Year' and I'm sure it had every patcher looking and listening for them on every berry tree. It seems fitting that it was to be Adam Nicholls first tick since July and a full fat patch tick as well. He also added Stonechat but dipped both Velvet Scoter and Brent Goose. With a 22% lead you can't be too greedy.......

Nick Moran seems to have secured 2nd place with a dream month, helping ID a Little Bunting, finding Siberian Chiffchaff as well as adding Hawfinch! Has Thetford moved to the coast! All this means that the #beatNick competition has miserably failed (pending the results of a drug test) so rather than dwell on it we will leave Jonny to drink his blues away (although i hear the #PWC2017 hashtag will be #beatenbyNick). Ben Moyes was another Waxwing'er this month and moves ahead of his 106% rivals while Ben Lewis finally passes the 100% mark, mainly thanks to missing 10 species off by mistake but also adding Waxwing and Bewick's Swan. With a few patchers close to 100% will a DEcember surge see more pass the milestone?

tic tic - BOOM! Little Bunting at Thetford

Ben Lewis has extended his lead at the top thanks to his shoddy book keeping earlier in the year and Jamie Wells is now his closest challenger thanks to a wildfowl wonderland, Ring-necked Duck, Scaup and Whooper Swan all putting in an appearance at Paxton Pits. Luke Wake remains in the top 3 but Nick Moran and Nige Lound are closing the gap and it will be a close run thing come the end of the year. Nige Lound had the bonus of finding a Green-winged Teal in November, always good to get a 6 pointer late in the year. Terry Stopher also had a good month at Livermere with the highlight coming from the 2nd ever record of Bean Goose for him there. The Inland East Anglia league also passed a milestone this month, 50,000 Birdtrack records for the year! Excellent work everyone!

Siberian Chiffchaff at Thetford by Neil Calbrade

Coastal East Anglia - November 2016

There was a familiar theme with sightings this month for coastal East Anglia patchers, seaduck, geese, seawatching and waxwings. Rob Hall added 8% to his already very impressive year with the additions of Long-tailed Duck, Snow Bunting, White-fronted Geese and Bewick's Swans. All classic winter birds in East Anglia but always a delight to see on patch. Ryan Irvine was the big mover this month, jumping to 2nd from 4th as he also added 8% including two bonus pointers, Leach's Petrel and the 3rd record ever of Crane for him at Hemsby. Highlight of the month was a Water Rail found in the dunes, a full fat patch tick! James Brown and Scott Mayson drop a place each despite James adding Little Auk, Long-tailed Duck and Snow Bunting. The only other mover in the comparative league was Nige Lound as he creeps into the top 5 thanks to a patch tick Green-winged Teal and two Storm-petrels, only the 4th and 5th records for Gibraltar Point NNR.

Excellent month for geese throughout the region

James Brown continues to run away with the points league although his lead has been cut to a meagre 21pts! Paul Eele is highest mover, jumping ahead of Justin Zantboer after a good month with Bean Geese, 60+ Waxwings, Purple Sandpiper and a shed load of seaduck and divers off the coast of Titchwell. The north coast of Norfolk was the place to be in November for seawatching. Irene Boston shared in the seaduck extravaganza at Brancaster and also had the nice addition of Shore Lark. James Appleton also managed to find a Shore Lark at Happisburgh and also added Little Auk during a seawatch as well as the highly elusive and rare Lapwing! Luke Nash was another to enjoy some seawatching, Black-throated Diver, Little Auk and Glaucous Gull amongst the highlights, rounded off with some Shore Larks on the coast.

Seaduck a highlight for many during November

An excellent month for many with some high quality winter birds, what does December have in store for us?

NHBS Continue their Support of PWC

We are delighted to announce that Natural History Bookstore have continued their support of Patchwork Challenge into #PWC2016. They will be awarding the winner of the comparative league with a £50 Voucher and the lucky winner in 2015 was Tom Raven after his glut of rare birds including Dusky Warbler, Glossy Ibis, Cattle Egrey, Night Heron and of course the Hudsonian Godwit on the Somerset Levels.

To keep up to date with everything NHBS has to offer please follow them on twitter where they are @nhbsNews , like them on Facebook  and on follow them on Instagram where they are @nhbs_wildlife 

Why buy from NHBS?  1. Supporting conservation 2. Unique product range 3. Rapid international service 4. Amazing customer experience 5. Experts in natural history 6. Our core values www.nhbs.com