Patchwork Challenge

The  Bresser & Forest Optics  Best Find Competition marks the pinnacle of the Patchwork  year. This prestigious award goes to the lucky patcher who turns up the years best bird. A bird that causes other discerning patch birders to turn green at the gills with envy. The fine people at Bresser & Forest Optics have once again demonstrated monumental generosity and have donated a pair of Bresser Montana 8.5 x 45 binoculars worth a grand total of  £665.00 . A fine prize that will be awarded to the winner come years end when the results are collated and the votes cast. With two months to catch up with it’s time to look at what September had to offer. First up the rarities and starting with our overall leader, Mick Turton, who found a Blyth’s Reed Warbler at Sammys Point on the 28 th . An excellent find tick for Mick and still a very hard species to find on the mainland. We stay in the Coastal North league for the next two cracking bird...

A further four species added to Ben Moyes Mid-North Gripping Valley patch sees him remain at the top of the comparative minileague. At UEA, Nick Robinson holds on to 2nd place without any further additions this month, however, with Ben Rackstraw gaining another three species for Downham Market and moving into 3rd place and Mike McCarthy at Taverham & Ringland not far behind, he may have some competition for the 2nd tier soon. Steve Swinney massively advanced his score for October as he jumped from 13th to 7th position with an impressive twenty-nine species ticked at Linford Birding. If he carries on in this way, he'll soon break the 100% barrier! In addition, this month also saw Ben Lewis rise up the comparative ranks with a further fourteen species seen at his Mid Yare RSPB patch, earning him 12th position and leaving him 17% from the coveted patch score. Finally, Nick Moran hit the 100% mark this month with the addition of Cetti's Warlber at Thetfor...

October's comparative Islands minileague sees Alastair  Forsyth take the top spot with a 10% increase, knocking Bryan Rains down a peg after Pennyghael could only offer one addition for the month - Goldcrest. While still in third position, Ian T broke the 100% barrier with three new patch ticks (Yellow-browed Warbler, Little Egret and a #patchgold Coot!) which bolstered his score by 9% and carried him over the threshold. David Wood at RSPB Oa, Islay also jumped the 100% target this month with the help of Yellow-browed Warbler. Heading closer is Stuart Taylor who sees a 4% increase with the addition of four new species added to his patch list, while John Bowler made a leap from 8th to 6th position this month with an impressive 13% improvement. No change at the top of the points league as John Bowler firmly held his ground and remained in the lead with the addition of a further nine species and bonus points for Baird's Sandpiper, Lesser Yellowlegs  (only Tiree's seco...

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...

Another month draws to a close in the estuarine minileague and the comparative table looks largely the same, the top five comprising the same familiar names all be it in a slightly different order. Ed Keeble remains in poll position at Brantham followed by Shaun Robson at Lytchett Bay. Ed is still the only competitor to have reached the coveted 100% marker though November should see a few others passing this milestone. Gordon Hodgson jumps from fifth to third this month with an impressive gain of 19 points. Toby Collett drops to fourth position followed by Russell Neave at Maldon. Sixth place Emma Webb also patches Maldon it seems and it will be interesting to see if she can overtake Russell before the years end. With only 2% separating the two one good bird in November could see this happen. Paul Sullivan heads up the points league this month with an impressive 188 species and 295 points respectively. Both Paul and second place John Bradley notched Pallid Harrier during October...

Tom Shields holds on at the top but only by the thinnest of margins as Andy Mackay jumps from 4th to 2nd and becomes the fourth person to hit 100% and adding 10% in October. His highlights this month include bonus points for a Great White Egret (although only 3 points gained as he saw one in the first winter period). Other goodies included American Golden Plover, Spoonbill, Bewick's Swan and Jack Snipe - a very decent haul for inland even if Andy did miss out on the find for the AGP. Azorean Gull - photo courtesy of Ben Ward Dave Roberts also has a superb month jumping from 6th to 3rd and becoming the 5th 100%'er in the minileague. His best bit find was a monster - an Azorean Gull which he co-found and is certainly a contender for this years Forest Optics  best find competition. We dont adjudicate on identification - we leave that to BBRC and the consensus is positive at the moment. It is up to the individual to decide on 'difficult' species/subspecies and what to...

An extra two species including Redwing added and a 4% increase sees Chris Pendlebury's lead unchallenged again in the comparative table for his Stirling patch. Alastair Forsyth made similar gains with 5% added this month although he did manage three Yellow-browed Warblers (plus Chiffchaff and Goldcrest) for yet more bonus points. He also overtakes Andy Cage and becomes the third Inland Scotland patcher to reach the hallowed three figures. The aforementioned Mr Cage failed to make progress in October and as such slips to third. As mentioned above it was another good month for Alastair Forsyth at Old Nisthouse and he retains top spot in the points league and increases his lead from 6 to 14 points as David Douglas didnt register a score this month. Pete Antrobus didnt make any gains at Lochmaben and so remains a way back in third but now under pressure from Graeme Garner who added 8 points in October at Cambus. I could list all of Chris P's finds this month but sadly we kno...

The top five remain unchanged in the coastal north comparative league this month despite gains by numerous competitors and a plethora of good birds strewn along the coast. Ash Baines remains rooted in first place with an additional seven species boosting him from 104.75 % to 109.58% with Snow Bunting and a patch first Goldeneye his highlights throughout October. Second place Stewart Sexton was also rewarded this month with his first Jack Snipe in seven years of observation at Howick, Northumberland. - #Patchgold ! Congratulations go to third place Seaumus Eaves for reaching the 100% marker this month following a good run at Fleetwood that saw the addition of 15 points derived from seven new species. Among these, tantalising goodies such as Marsh Warbler, Yellow-Brow and Long-Tailed Duck. Both Chris Bradshaw and James Spencer also look set to break the barrier in the coming months and November could easily see the top five comparative patchers nestled snugly on 100% and above. ...

While Alison is yet again sitting tight on the comparative top spot at LlanfairTH, Henry Cook is playing catch-up, and pushes his Little Orme patch into 2nd position giving him an increase of a whopping 11% since last month. In the battle for 5th position, Peter Howlett has pipped Adam Tilt with an increase of 6%, however, the competition is getting tighter with only a few percent currently separating the 5th, 6th & 7th spots. Highlights including Firecrest and Yellow-browed Warbler have contributed to a fourteen point increase for David Carrington, allowing him to knock Barry Stewart down into 2nd place. As expected, Laurie Allnatt has slipped into 4th place with Paul Roberts stepping up onto the podium with 174 points and a tidy Dartford Warbler for the month. With the help of a stonking self-found Alpine Swift, Henry Cook moved Little Orme into 5th position of the points league. Bonus points for Great White Egret and a Red-throated Diver saw Emma Cram move he...

No new species or points added during October for the Ireland Comparative Minileague leaders, Eamonn O'Donnell (Ninch/Laytown) or Niall Keogh (South Dublin Parks), as both were away for most of the month chasing migrants and seabirds around/off Southwest Ireland. While they still remain in their allotted first and second place positions, a month of inactivity has allowed other contestants make some gains and to add to their scores. Alan Lauder connects with the long-staying Yellow-legged Gull at Broad Lough and moves well past 100 species, 100% comp score and into a strong third place position (and within striking distance of second). Despite having a plethora of rare and scarce species just out of reach of his patch boundary at Larne Lough, Neal Warnock finally gets an addition for his year list ( Knot ) after a long wait. Two months left for him to gain 7% and make it to the target score. Neal's other patch at Rathlin Island produced Snow Bunting among fou...