Patchwork Challenge

Nick Crouch maintains his lead despite no additions in October and the slow addition of species suggests he has the Midlands minileague wrapped up. The race for second is much closer with Dave Roberts' self found Yellow-browed Warbler a piece of classic inland patch gold cutting Matt Griffith's lead to two points. Plenty to play for there. Not many other additions I am afraid so no movement further down the table. A single additional point allowed Alan Kydd to stay top and with Dave Roberts' relatively high comparative score it will take some going in the last part of the year to catch up. No position changes further down although Richard Harbird managed a couple of additions in October to keep him well clear in third place.

There has been virtually no change in the rankings of the Coastal Scotland minileague despite many good birds being found and seen. Andrew Whitehouse moves up a place into 11th above Tristan but Stornoway is as likely as any of the patches to catch a goody in November or December. Sean Morris' league switch has him in at 17th, largely thanks to the nearctic Mourning Dove which spent a decent slice of October cavorting on his lawn. At the very top there is only a self found scarce bird between John Bowler and Rob Fray who are both well clear of Gary Bell in third. The comparative table shows some excellent scoring with four contestants now over 120%. Ian T at Askernish overhauls John Bowler in third but the top two remain constant with Mark Lewis needing a good few birds or finds to catch Barrie Hamill on Burray.

Aside from Ali Shuttleworth's Pectoral Sandpiper at Cullaloe there weren't any three pointers (or better) added to the Inland Scotland points tallies but despite this there has been a big shake up in the standings. Firstly the realisation on our part that Rum is an Island and thus Sean Morris was in the wrong league (cheers to Sean for his honesty) and the Mourning Dove should trouble the coastal minileague rather than here meant that most bumped up a place. The bigger change was Chris Pendlebury losing his ascendancy with his local rival, Graeme Garner, claiming top spot but with only six points in it a rogue Richard's Pipit could change it all round. Ali's Pec ensures he leapfrogs Andy Cage at Kilmany into 5th. Despite the changes in the points table the comparative table remains static except for the loss of Sean M from top spot. Graeme G takes over the top spot with a 19% lead. No new additions to the 100% club this month but there is still time for Chris P and...

Ben Lewis has closed the gap to 11 points on Jamie Wells. Is there still time for a change at the top? Steve Swinney has leapfrogged Ed Keeble & Richard Stace into third but it seems the top 2 are clear. Nick Moran has managed to climb one place into 6th. There are still quite a few entrants in this minileague who are yet to post a score - will there be a late challenge from one of these? In all seriousness if you havent yet posted a score in the competition but entered earlier in the year you are still welcome to take part.    Ben Lewis climbs one place into 5th but joining the 100 club will take a big effort over the last two months of the year with 13 points required. It is also looking improbable for the other 90%ers Russell and James but a self-found funny Crossbill and Siberian Chiffchaff could turn that on its head.

Moss maintains his slender lead in the Coastal East Anglia points table with seven points separating him and Simon Chidwick. Moss's additions this month including self found Great White Egret, Leach's Petrel and best of all a Red-flanked Bluetail which will no doubt be making it into the Meopta and Forest Best Find post alongside. Simon managed a Black-browed Albatross that was seen at several sites along the Norfolk coast. James Brown will be feeling good about moving into third place above both Jonathan Gibbs with 12 additional species and 27 points. Further down the league Dave Sivyer has managed a few additions and leaps up four places. With some close scores mid-table there is plenty still to play for.  In the comparative stakes Gary White maintains his lead with an exceptional 157% with a handful of classy additions. Simon has managed to cut the gap on Moss who make up the top three. Ryan Irvine, James Brown and Scott Mayson join the 100% club so well done to ...

Patch is the BTO Out of Africa Cuckoo which we at Patchwork Challenge along with Meopta & Forest Optics have sponsored. We last heard from Patch here at the beginning of September when he had started moving south through Italy. Not long after we posted Patch crossed the Mediterranean and arrived in Libya on the 3rd September. Remarkably Patch then traversed the entire Sahara in 29 hours arriving in Niger by the 5th. This was a journey of 1,160 miles! By the 9th September Patch was at the traditional staging area of Lake Chad. This area was identified as important only through the Out of Africa project. Patch refuelled in this area until early October when he moved south into the rainforests of Cameroon, 600 miles further south. Patch's latest movement into what may be his wintering quarters was a 770 mile jaunt southwest into the Democratic Republic of Congo. He is now hanging out in the largest Ramsar site in the world, Lake Mai-Ndombe. So far so good for Patch and we hope...

Ian Mills is way out in front in the points league, although Jane Turners productive October could well see that gap narrowed somewhat from the 43 points where it stands now. Iain Robson lies in third place and Alan Tilmouth is not a million miles behind in fourth. With scores to come in for one of the most productive months of the year, theres every chance for change here. The top four in the percentages league are occupied by the same four, and things are much closer at the top here, with the top three separated by just under 8 percentage points. With some big finds, and the distinct possibility that all four have scored bonus points in October, who knows how things will lie at the end of the month! 

Crikey, it's close at the top in the London area! In the points league, there are just 14 points separating the top three, with Adam Bassett in first, Paul Whiteman in second and not to far behind at all, Marek Walford in third place. Rather neatly, if we were to have a league for the number of species, it would fall into the same order too. Adam also leads the comparative league, with second and third places reversed from the points league - but in the comparative league things are even tighter! The top three are separated by less than three percentage points. If you're looking for an exciting finish then look no further than the London minileague! 

Nick Crouch is in first place in the midlands points minileague, and in a seemingly comfortable position being 19 points in front. Things are much tighter between second and third though, with only 6 points between Matt Griffiths and Dave Roberts, and Richard Harbird could very easily spoil someones party as he lies just 8 points behind the top three. A stray yellow-browed warbler for someone would shake things up very nicely! Alan Kydd leads in the comparative league, but is edging pretty close to 'uncomparative' comparative score territory! Dave Roberts is in second, and Richard Harbird lies just 8 points behind Dave in third place.

I think that the SW points league is all but over, with Kev Rylands a cool 41 points ahead of Gavin Haig in second place. Paul Bowerman makes third place, and being 26 points ahead of fourth, who would bet against the top three finishing that way? I think we might have to overlook Roger Musgroves comparative score! with this years score over 150% of the comparative score I think it's fair to say that it's not all that comparative! This is not a dig in any way - we understand that it's difficult to come up with a good representative score, and that the PWC might have encouraged folk to get out more and see more birds on patch. It does leave us in the position though where those who post more representative scores might be at a disadvantage - watch this space!