Patchwork Challenge

Turtle Dove - May 2015 After nine years of patching Needham Market a new job means I am moving on, as you can imagine I am in frenzied patch turmoil! Where do I belong? Where will I get my daily bird-fix? Why get out of bed? Other than for the new job, of course! Ferruginous Duck - January 2011 Despite appearing relatively benign on the map, the river valley and gravel pits around my former office did deliver the goods over time. I recorded a total of 143 species, with sufficient variety to keep me inspired year-on-year. Memorable highlights have included a spring White Stork (a lifer for me at the time) and passage birds such as Redstart, Ring Ouzel and Whinchat. One of my better finds over the years was a wintering Ferruginous Duck, which I came across one January morning, surely at the top of most patchers ’ wish list!   Another surprise was a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, seen and heard for just a few weeks in early 2014. Cold winters have produced Smew, Goosander a...

Tom Shields remains the only Midlands patcher beyond the 100% barrier as he adds a further 4% including three points for a Spoonbill. Below Tom its all change as last months second place player, Rob Williams, falls to sixth. Meanwhile Steve Lyon jumps a place and crests the 100% barrier thanks to additions of Wood Sandpiper and Marsh Harrier at Marston. Andy Mackay at Eyebrook climbs two places and back into the top three as he edges Andy Sims out this month with a barrage of two point waders . Ian Cowgill's lead has been cut to 17 points despite a 10 point month. John Hopper adds 16 points at Hoveringham including the find of the month - a Black Stork . This 12 pointer threatens to make the final third of the year much more interesting at the top of the table. Andy Mackay's Curlew Sandpiper, Little Stint, Avocet, Wood Sandpiper, Garganey combo keeps him on John's coat tails. No further bonus points but lots of good birds as post juvenile dispersal and migration get ...

Alison failed to make any additions in the hills of LlanfairTH and although her lead has been cut she still has 19% over Alun John at Pennard Golf Course who is in second. Alun has had a super month jumping from fifth to second and cracking the 100% barrier thanks to a Lesser Whitethroat amongst others. Henry Cook holds onto third with his Conwy RSPB patch after recording Little Gull and Scaup while Adam Tilt drops out of the top three. Laurie Allnatt finishes his time at Llanelli WWT this month and ends on 173 points and whilst still leading Mathew Meehan is hot on his heels so it seems unlikely he will manage to hold on for the final four months but a super effort including one of this years best finds with a smart Bonaparte's Gull. Down at Newport Wetlands Mathew leapfrogs Barry Stewart and lands in second after adding Wood Sandpiper. Barry failed to make any additions in August while David Carrington closes the gap on the podium. Black Tern at Fendrod Lake - with th...

The Bresser & Forest Optics Best Find Competition is the highlight of the Patchwork Challenge year. This is for the best find of the whole patch birding year as voted for by you, the competitors. Those fine people at Bresser & Forest Optics are very generously furnishing the winner of the competition with a pair of Bresser Montana 8.5 x 45 binoculars worth £665.00. June and July are traditionally the quieter months in the birdwatchers calendar when thoughts often turn to dragonflies and butterflies and the fun to be had trying to get to grips with them, as activity with the avian population settles down a bit. This year however whilst there hasn't been a mega during the period there have been a generous scattering of rarities, along with double figures of scarce birds found by patchworkers. Laughing Gull thanks to Tim Jones Working our way from North to South with the rare birds we start with Gull-billed Tern for Alastair Forstyth at Palace, Birsay...

Paul Freestone adds three points and jumps to 108% thanks to some glorious #patchgold in the form of a Kingfisher - a new bird for his Gwithian patch. Andy Rhodes failed to add but stayed in second place while Peter Hazelwood makes slow progress to 96%. Will he break through 100% in August? Joe Stockwell, who runs the rule over the Weymouth reserves, stays top of the pops after another decent month with five points added this time. Such exotica as Wood Sandpiper and Crossbill managed to grace his list which keeps him clear of Sean Foote who couldnt make inroads at the top. Paul Bowerman just manages to hold on to third spot thanks to a Ruff. Ilya Maclean makes his play for the podium with a Cory's Shearwater on his Lizard patch plus a handful of Pomarine Skuas. Roger Musgrove in North Somerset managed to add both Red-necked Phalarope and Quail this month which were perhaps the highlights. Roger incidentally along with Dick Best are the beneficiaries of some incredible habita...

Ed Keeble adds a single double pointer which extends his lead in the comparative table to 11%. Shaun Robson manages to overtake Gordon Hodgson to move into second spot despite no highlights...  Paul Sullivan reinforces his grip on the Estuarine minileague adding 6 points including White-winged Black Tern whilst his fellow patchers failed to make headway. John Badley and Dave Craven stay static but maintain position in second and third respectively. Howard Vaughan in fifth is the only member of the upper echelons to make ground after recording a London Pomarine Skua. There weren't a huge number of additional finds with a couple of Yellow-legged Gulls proving the best of it.

Only a handful of scores were recieved for July in Coastal East Anglia but nearly all of them had something good to contribute. Craig Fulcher adds a further 3% to his score thanks to Little Gull and Velvet Scoter and he is now only 12 points from matching his comparative mark. Tommy Corcoran closes the gap from Ryan Irvine to 0.2% thanks to an Osprey on his Great Yarmouth patch. Ryan  Nige Lound at Gib Point had a trio of highlights which boosted his score and keep him in first place. A Roseate Tern took pride of place but his first patch Black Tern since 2011 and first patch Quail since 2007 also get mentioned in dispatches. James Brown at North Lowestoft reclaims second spot thanks to a self found Marsh Warbler while zero points for Robert Smith at Holme means he drops into third. Finally, Rob Hall at Halesworth to Dunwich managed to get himself finders points for a Bee-eater.

Ben Moyes continues his fine run of form to add 6% to his already mighty score for his Gipping Valley patch. This month he added Osprey, Black-tailed Godwit and Crossbill whilst his close rival, Nick Robinson, managed a solitary point for Sand Martin. Ben Rackshaw in third did not manage to add to his score and so he finds his place in third under threat by Jim Bradley who is only 4% behind and sits on the brink of 100%.  Black-tailed Godwit - Ben Moyes Jamie Wells manages to extend his lead to 11 points but it could have been so much sweeter! A July lesser golden plover usually turns out to be a Pacific GP but sadly for Jamie it remains a non-specific GP as a brief visitor to Paxton Pits evaded identification. Luckily for him Ben Lewis failed to capitalize on this and remains on the same score as in June.  Ashley McElwee manages to leapfrog Ben Rackshaw and move into third thanks to a flocks of Whimbrel and a flyover Greenshank. Nick Moran in fifth managed to break...

Stephen Welch is top of the Coastal Scotland comparative minileague once again and adds a single point in July. Jim Dickson moves into scond, 6% adrift but having added 5% in July including a self found Ring-billed Gull and 4 Ruff which are less than annual on his Crinan Canal patch. Chris Hill drops to third thanks to a blank month. The Ring-billed Gull also helps Jim to consolidate his lead at the top of the points table with a ten point cushion. Not too much to overcome but it will take a good month to overhaul him immediately. Mike Hodgkin in second has a blank month while Chris Rodger takes a break from the Ashes to secure a Little Stint and third place. The only other bonus points this month would perhaps get sniffed at further south but a Great White Egret for Jonathan Clarke is a very decent record for Scotland and a welcome Dorothy for him (enough cricket puns already! - ed.). Jonathan Clarke also managed Curlew Sandpiper in July.

Keith Dickinson closes in on Nick Tonge as the Leeds suburban patches fight for the overall comparative lead. Nick failed to add anything but keeps a 2% buffer. Too much time in the hills causes James Common's challenge to faulter as he drops to fourth with Steven Ward at Hawes replacing him on the rostrum after a bumper month including two patch seconds in the form of Marsh Harrier and Stonechat. Patchgold for Steven Ward - a Marsh Harrier at Hawes No points for the top three mean that Darren Starkey's lead in the Points minileague remains the same. Unlike some of the other players in this division Darren isn't particularly vocal in backing his challenge but a little birdie tells me that his latest recruit has been tasked with ensuring that Fairburn stays top of Inland North. Tom Lowe is in joint third now after adding seven points in July including a Wood Sandpiper and a Caspian Gull. Other highlights from within the fiercely contested minileague include two Be...