Sutton Bingham Reservoir 2014 - Tim Farr

Having come across Patchwork Challenge too late in 2013 (though I did keep a score for my own benefit and recorded 102 species and would’ve scored 120 points) I made sure I was signed up for 2014. Having a young family had curtailed much travelling for birds so instead I took the opportunity to concentrate on Sutton Bingham Reservoir (SBR), my local patch for over fifteen years. SBR has attracted some cracking birds over the years, especially in the 70’s and early 80’s…before it became my patch I hasten to add, but nowadays high water levels year round have put pay to wader passage and wildfowl numbers have dramatically reduced over the past decade.

January

The year started off much better than I could ever have imagined when during my first visit of the year, on 3rd, I found a Yellow-browed Warbler! This was only the second patch record, I had found the first in October 2013 in a private area of the reservoir. This bird though would be accessible to all, and attracted a fair few local birders over the following month. Amazingly, alongside the YBW I also found a Siberian Chiffchaff, though this proved to be a much more elusive Phyllosc! The good start to the year continued when, just five days later, an evening visit to check the gull roost produced an Iceland Gull. This was a patch tick for me and only the third patch record…the first for thirty years. It would be fair to say I was enjoying this Patchwork Challenge! The remainder of the month could no way live up to the first eight days,, but passing flocks of Lapwing added a bit of interest and three Gadwall dropped in for an evening mid-month. My final visit of the month added a few more species, with a drake Mandarin adding a splash of colour and a Peregrine keeping an eye out for wildfowl and Woodpigeons. I had seen 58 species by the end of the month.

February

Somehow I didn’t manage many trips to SBR during the course of the month, but a few species were added to the list. A Grey Wagtail was an expected addition and the January Yellow-browed Warbler remained until the 2nd. The gull roost produced adult Mediterranean Gulls on two dates, a welcome two-pointer. Other species added included, somewhat belatedly, House Sparrow plus three Siskin which are by no means annual at the site. Just seven species had been added to the list over the course of the month!

March

The start of the month had me away with the family for a week and then a trip to the Forest of Dean to see the Two-barred Crossbills, so it was mid-month before I returned to the patch. Almost a patch tick on my first visit, I located a Red-legged Partridge, a species I had heard once at SBR, but had never actually seen, so common as muck but it gave me a real buzz! A somewhat less welcome first for the patch was a Mink, but as that does not get points for PWC I won’t dwell on that. A single Marsh Tit was seen, this species is just hanging on at SBR. The first Sand Martin of the year was seen on 16th, my earliest record for this species and a sign, perhaps, that Spring was on the way. However, a major disappoint when an out of order mobile resulted in me missing a phone call to tell me about a first-winter Little Gull put a bit of a dampener on things. I’d seen Little Gull on the patch before, but years ago and it would have been a great patch year tick…but that’s birding! March had brought the year list up to 71 species and migration was underway.

April

After January, April was to prove to be my best month with regard to adding species to the year list, which of course is no surprise as Summer migrants begin to arrive and passage birds pass through. The first Common Sandpipers arrived during the first week of the month as did the first Swallows. Linnet is another species I never consider a given, so finding a nice male amongst a flock of Goldfinches was a bonus. A bit of a surprise in the form of a first-year Yellow-legged Gull brought about another couple of points, and the first Willow Warbler arrived on patch on 13th. With both Whitethroat and Lesser Whitethroat added mid-month another surprise find came on 20th when a heavy rain storm tempted me to the patch and the hunch played off as an Arctic Tern showed up briefly. The next day a Common Tern dropped in and to complete the hat trick an amazingly brilliant Black Tern spent a day hawking over the water. The month was completed with yet another shock visitor, as a pair of Shelduck appeared. The year list was now up to 87 species, but more importantly I had hit the 100 mark with regard to PWC points.

May

The first patch Swifts were seen on 5th and a Greylag Goose flew in the same day, and was gone 24 hours later. A Hobby was a nice addition to the list but probably the most unexpected bird of the month was a summer-plumaged Dunlin that flew in from the north and passed over my head before continuing south. With nowhere for it to pitch down, that pretty much sums up waders at SBR! A flying visit on my way in to work added Osprey to the year list, I would’ve thought the bird dropped in the previous night but it didn’t hang around as it was harried constantly by gulls and corvids. Towards the end of the month nothing new arrived and I knew it was going to be tough to add anything for a few weeks at least.

June

A week away and a little bit of twitching (I just had to go and see that Short-toed Eagle!) meant I didn’t spend any quality time on the patch until mid-way through the month. A female Mandarin with three juvenile birds would indicate the species bred successfully this year and on 29th two Common Sandpipers were present, presumably failed breeders heading back to Africa. The month ended with me being unable to add anything to the patch year list!

July

Another frustrating start to the month, heavy rain one afternoon and I decided against popping in to SBR on my way home…big mistake! I got a text saying a Redshank and three Green Sandpipers had dropped in, but two glasses of wine meant I had no chance of getting to see them, and no sign of them the following morning. However, on 7th I did find a pair of Common Scoters, an excellent tick for an inland reservoir. It remained fairly quiet for a couple of weeks and then a monster Great Black-backed Gull was found, another decent patch tick considering the site’s location. The end of the month produced a few more Common Sandpipers passing through and a patch year list now at 95 species, edging closer to the magic 100.

August

A few visits to the patch over the month failed to produce much at all, and certainly no new year ticks, until 24th when a scan of the barbed wire fence that runs along West Pool produced a Whinchat (my first here for a couple of years) and a Redstart (which was only my 3rd patch record, though the second in two years). So a couple of really good additions to the list. A couple of days later an early morning visit produced an Osprey and the month finished on a high when a Greenshank flew in, circled for a while trying to find somewhere to land and then headed on south, much in the same

way as the Dunlin back in May. A Tawny Owl was another nice sighting (only the second time I’d actually seen one on patch, when driving home one evening after a visit to the Isle of Wight Bee-eaters). Four species added to the year list this month.

September

A flurry of activity in September started with another Osprey on 3rd, the third record of the year, and amazingly four Whinchats and three Hobbies, some great birds all in one day…but none of them patch year ticks. Possibly the same, maybe a different Osprey and two more Whinchats on 6th and then on the afternoon of the 7th a fly-over Yellow Wagtail marked my 100th species of the year at Sutton Bingham Reservoir. A day later, four Garganey dropped in to West Pool briefly until spooked by a Buzzard and heading off, a White Wagtail was found but didn’t get me any points, and a Spotted Flycatcher passed through. A week later and another Osprey turned up, this time a juvenile bird that stayed for several weeks and a female Shoveler that dropped in to West Pool, the latter being another year tick for the patch. The highlight of the month came in the form of a long overdue patch tick, a fly-over Tree Pipit! Unbelievably, two days later a second Tree Pipit flew though and a juvenile Hobby put in a brief appearance. The first returning Wigeon arrived in the final week of the month and a Common Sandpiper also paid a visit. The patch year list was now at 104 species, I had beaten my 2013 total with three months to go!

October

The juvenile Osprey was last seen on 10th after staying at SBR for around seven weeks. Another year tick came in the form of a Skylark, with a small number passing through during the month and a few days later Stonechat was also added to the year list. A bit of non-avian interest partway through the month as I stumbled upon an Otter with two kits, an amazing site I was very privileged to have witnessed. The month ended with another Yellow-legged Gull.

November

Hardly surprisingly it all started to go really quiet again as the winter months set in, though a calling Water Rail provided a bit of interest and a Blackcap was located halfway through the month. A drake Pochard on 23rd was a patch year tick though, only my second in two years of a species that was once numerous at SBR.

December

The final month of a really enjoyable year on the patch and it provided a couple of bits and pieces. My final year tick came in the form of a male Pintail, present for just a single day with Wigeon and three Gadwall. December was notable for the number of Mediterranean Gulls I found on the patch, my highest total was 23 birds one evening, but at least 24 different individuals visited over the course of the month. The total of 23 was a site record and the second highest total ever recorded in Somerset. An adult Yellow-legged Gull was in the roost at the end of the year, a couple more Water Rail turned up, as did another Stonechat and three more Shoveler. I ended the year on 108 species and 124 points, of the species I saw, I had found them all. Nowhere near the totals seen in some of the UK’s hotspots, but the joy of patch birding is in the finding of birds. I had added two species to my patch life list during the year and spent countless enjoyable hours at Sutton Bingham Reservoir. Roll on 2015!

National Inland. August and September

Apologies for the lack of an Inland post last month and the lateness of this one but here goes.

The Inland table is beginning to resemble the footballPremier League, with familiar faces dominating the top six and a rather large gulf seperating them from the nearest contenders. At the bottom of the table it's still all to play for with just 12 points seperating 10th from 20th.

The Birding Gods smiled favourably on Wayne Gillatt during August, who after removing those dodgy Ruddy Shelducks went on to amass a further 33 points with self-found Great White Egret and Pectoral Sandpiper netting 12 points along with some good 'two pointers' such as Little Stint and Curlew Sandpiper. August is a crucial month for waders and clearly Wayne's location helped as did Martin Elcoate's at Topsham. Those further inland struggled with an all too apparent wader drought.

At the bottom of the table we lost Tom Raven and Andy Mackay and welcomed Bill Aspin and Nick Croft.

Despite only gaining two points Wayne Gillatt remains firmly rooted at the top though things have really been happening below him. Steve Swinney raced into 7th place from 15th with an amazing day on the 11th where he added Guillemot, Arctic Skua, Spoonbill and best of all Sabine's Gull the latter not just a patch tick but a lifer. Chris Bradshaw, Nick Croft, Nick Crouch and Mark Reeder dropped out of the table replaced by Tom Raven, Mark Nowers, Patch Birding stalwart Jonny Holliday and Shaun Robson who has switched tables given his estuary location.

Best inland finds during September  were Steve Swinney with his aforementioned hat full, Jamie Wells with a Pectoral Sandpiper at Paxton and  Paul Massey (just outside the top 20) who found not one but three Pectoral Sandpipers at Grindon Lough (sadly just the 6 finders points though).

The National Inland Top 20 July

Despite a relatively slack month Darren Starkey manages to extend his lead adding another 4 points (from 3 species) to the previous month and pulling 8 points clear of his nearest rival Wayne Gillatt, who gained just a point. The top six positions remain unchanged with a massive 21 points gap between 6th and 7th, Marcus Lawson and John Hopper swap places taking 7th and 8th place respectively. 

At the bottom of the table Tom Raven and Andy Mackay have sadly been replaced by Bill Aspin and Jonny Holliday - hopefully the former two will recover at the expense of the latter!

Early indications suggest that for some August hasn't been as great as anticipated, though as we enter the true autumn and with favorable conditions predicted for the first weekend of September it's time for the real exciting stuff to begin.

Mark R

The National Inland Top 20

This our first look at the nationwide top 20 inland patches and for those of us familiar with the Inland North category it will come as no surprise that the top three sites (two individuals) are sitting at the top of the Nationwide Inland League. Those of us residing near the bottom or indeed outside the table should take solace from the fact that as site manager (Is that the new name fro Reserve Warden?) for Fairburn and St Aidan’s it is perhaps not surprising that Darren Starkey sits in first and third place with his patches. Also with an advantage of a different sort, and currently second, is Wayne Gillat. Wayne’s patch at Alkborough is clearly better positioned for those all important wetland birds - particularly waders. Some may dispute Alkborough’s position as an inland patch given it’s location on the Humber estuary, though situated at the confluence of the Trent and Ouse (next to Blacktoft Sands) it is some 20km inland of Hull and geographically similar to other inland patches.

Closing on Darrel and Wayne and just a BB rarity find from the top spot is Jamie Wells with his Cambridgeshire patch Paxton Pits.

Scotland’s only representative, currently in the top 20, is Alastair Forsyth who will no doubt be keeping everything crossed for a bumper autumn on the Orkney Mainland.

Typically June and July can be testing times for the inland patch birder, though as I write this two ‘top drawer’ rarities are gracing inland sites in the Midlands and East Anglia. A Black-winged Pratincole on the Ouse Washes and a Pacific Golden Plover (below) at RSPB Middleton Lakes near Tamworth. The latter site surely one of the most inland sites in the UK.

Both photos with the kind permission of Steve Nuttall

August can be a real game changer with return migration for waders in full swing. Whilst July’s table will likely see little change from June’s, August’s will tell a whole new story and maybe even a change at the top with perhaps some relegation at the bottom.

Whilst patchers closer to the coast may already have added many key species the more land-locked locations will be looking to the weather charts hoping for favourable conditions to drop ‘patch gold’. For me August can be the best month of the year and based on previous years experience I could add as many as six or seven species - but given that in previous years I have been away for up to two weeks during the month, this year I’m hoping for at least ten!

This may be a case of telling your Granny how to suck eggs, but my tips for a successful August would be keep an eye of the weather and always, wherever possible, visit the patch during or immediately after rain. Those late summer downpours can and do come up trumps.

Thank you and good luck

Mark Reeder

An Inland Patch Addict

My name is Mark and I am a patch addict. Since the age of twelve I've 'patched', be it the fields beyond my parent's house,  trespassing on old British Steel land or the more established local (to me) spots of Catcliffe Flash, Treeton Dyke and Rother Valley Country Park. All these at sometime or another have been my patch. But for one reason or another they always lacked something - usually birds.

The old Orgreave Coking Plant viewed from my teenage patch of Catliffe Flash around 1989.

In 1994 I discovered a pool at the top of the slag heap at the infamous Orgreave Coking Works and Pit. I say discovered but I’d long heard talk of the pool and eventually plucked up courage to trespass onto the site. Sure enough there was a lake, shallow and reasonably large. I had a few waders Ringed Plover, breeding Little Ringed, Green Sandpiper and best of all Spotted Redshank. A decent late summer roost of Lesser Black-backed Gulls - Yellow-legged and Caspian Gulls weren't talked about back then - totalling several hundred birds most evenings. Typically, just as I was getting into my new found patch the site was closed off and opencast. So with my tail between my legs it was back to the old ground of Rother Valley.      

In 2009 I became aware of a large body of water on the now almost completed opencast site. The problem was that it was still inaccessible. I began to view it from a fair distance, about half a mile, usually just a quick look on my way to work. It was during one of these visits that I struck patch gold a winter drake Long-tailed Duck. I remember it well for two reasons.  Firstly one of the front suspension springs broke after hitting a speed bump on the way to get better views, secondly whilst watching the duck a dog walker walked across my field of view. Nothing too significant about that you might say. But the dog walker was inside the site perimeter - clearly there was a way in!  So that evening on my way home from the office I found that way in and visits to my new love became regular.

This ‘patch’ has been a revelation. In just five years I've found more local rarities than any of my previous patches combined. Self-found highlights have been (in species order) White-fronted Goose, Long-tailed Duck, Ring-necked Duck, Smew (2), Quail, Black-necked Grebe (8), Leach’s Petrel, Great White Egret (2), Glossy Ibis, Long-tailed Skua, Iceland Gull (3), Caspian Gull, Lapland Bunting (4) and Snow Bunting (4) with a good supporting cast of not so rare.

Every now and again you reap the reward of seemingly endless tedium. Don't despair your next visit could be BIG! 

Orgreave is my dream patch. A dream in that I always wanted somewhere virtually to myself that I could watch too and from work and most importantly a place that got good birds. Almost three square kilometres in size comprising of two shallow lakes, lush grassland, newly planted birch and alder and willow plantations with more established trees running along the length of the nowadays clean river Rother.  

The future of the site is mixed. Almost a third of it will be swallowed up by a housing development, a development that will only be reduced in size if as planned the HS2 goes through the site! But I’m not down about it, the patch is big enough to cope and my strategy of first light visits ensures that my visits are mostly disturbance free. It’s also very young and with the areas of scrub and woodland developing the range of species can only increase.

The Patchwork Challenge has been a great platform to feed my obsession and regular banter between myself and other other inland patch birders serves only to greaten the incentive. It’s all friendly stuff though, Jonny Holliday and I even went out drinking together recently. I did quite well managing to slip last autumns Long-tailed Skua into the conversation before the first pint was half done! It’s also virtually killed off my desire to travel stupidly long distances for a few minutes glimpse of a ‘mega’. Last year whilst watching the Margate ‘Dusky’ Thrush I received a text about a singing Sedge Warbler (only one previous record) I was completely gripped and at this point realised the level of my patch addiction. For me it's all about perspective, I've been lucky enough to find a Pallas's Warbler on Shetland but the thrill I got from my first Coal Tit at Orgreave (still just three records) was just as good - if not better. When I had the Ibis I wept! The thrill of the sites first proper rarity, the punishing early morning visits and the sheer adrenalin rush, it was just too much!

Presumably due to my passion for patching the team have invited me along as their Inland Patch Guru. That’s certainly one four-letter word that I’ve never been called before! Hopefully I will bring a less coastal bias to the monthly round up and perhaps provide drive and enthusiasm to those weary Patchers particularly during those potentially dire months of March, June and November. 

Mark Reeder

Inland Scotland Minileague - January

Alastair Forsyth is top of the tree at Old Nisthouse and deservedly so after finding the best bird of January, a drake Blue-winged Teal. Chris Pendlebury has had an excellent start at Dunblane and is in second but a full twelve points back. Last years winner of the Inland Scotland minileague, Graeme Garner, is in third on his new patch, Cambus.  Aside from Alastair's Teal there was little else to shout about finds wise with species such as Woodcock, Jack Snipe and Merlin featuring in the highlights.

Everybody is in the same order in the combined table with Alastair top on 68.75%. Less than 2% back is Chris P and then Andy Dowse at Comrie in third with 56.8%.

Inland East Anglia Minileague - January

The inland East Anglia mini league is led by two PWC2013 big hitters as Jamie Wells and Ben Lewis lead the way again, both breaking the 100 point barrier already. Jamie leads by 7 points, thanks in part to finding a Great White Egret, a very handy 6 points. Highlights had the usual wintery feel with wildfowl and divers mentioned on several patches and Mealy Redpolls a welcome find for Nick Moran and Nick Robinson. Ben Rackshaw may be a newcomer but he has had a great start to PWC with two patch ticks, Scaup and Water Rail.

Not so easy for Ben and Jamie in the comparative table as there great 2013 see's them playing catch up this year. Mark Nowers has had a great January and already past 70% with Steve Swinney and Nick Watmough not too far behind in the top 3. The next 9 patches are separated by less than 10% so I can see this being another league to keep a close eye on as the year marches on....

Midlands Minileague - January

The midlands mini league this year is hardly mini as an impressive 38 patches have been entered, 23 of which have entered scores for January. The top three positions are held by PWC newcomers, Ian Cowgill at Lound sets the pace as he clocked up 99 species and the only 100+ points score. Fellow new comers John Hopper and Andy Mackay aren't too far back.

Although there only 5 comparative competitors this year it looks like it will be a cracking league as 5 are seperated by less that 7%. The race for the top spot is currently held by Dave Roberts by a mere 0.05% from Nick Self. It should be a geat league to keep an eye on throughout the year.

London Minileague - January

Nick Croft at Rainham and Adam Bassett at Little Marlow head up the London minileague, tied on 89 points. Nick even manages to sneak third at Wanstead. Highlights around the capital were few and far between with Water Rail and Peregrine at the top of a small looking pile.

Jason Reynold's flying start has him top of the London comparative league with 67.7%. 1.9% seperates 2nd-5th with Tom Stevenson and Michael Terry falling in the top 3 in second and third respectively.

Inland North Minileague January 2014

A great start in what promises to be a hugely competitive minileague this year with some famous names and avid patchers joining staunch competitors from last year. Darren Starkey's twin-pronged assault on the league table leaves his West Yorkshire twins of Fairburn and St Aiden's in first and second respectively. Another newbie, Bill Aspin, brings his beloved Brockholes to the party with third place and 89 points. Last years winner, Jonathan Holliday is in fifth at Pugneys whilst Andy Bunting at Martin Mere has managed a commendable 1333 Birdtrack records this month. There were plenty of two pointers including Tom Lowe's Lesser Spotted Woodpecker in Goole and plenty of scarce gulls but best of the month is probably Mr Holliday's Caspian Gull.

Some solid starts amongst last years leaders with Phil Woolen in first at Backford Cross on 57.8%. Peter Williams at Laycock is in second with 52.2% whilst Jonny Holliday edges out Mark Reeder to complete the top 3.