Inland Scotland Minileague - November 2015

-
November was a month of #patchday rewards for those who took part in the Inland Scotland Minileague. 

Alastair Forsyth started off his #patchday efforts with a #fullfatpatchtick drake Ring-necked Duck at Old Nisthouse but this was followed by a dodgy Black Swan (!) and what seems to be a mega patch grip after receiving a very good description of what may well have been a white morph Gyr pretty much in his back garden! Either way, he remains in second place on the comparative minileague table for another month with 108%.

Ring-necked Duck © Alastair Forsyth

Chris Pendlebury's #patchday birding at his multitude of sites added a flyover Barnacle Goose with Pink-feet at Dunlbane, a Cormorant at Blairdrummond and a trio of ticks at Kinneil (Rock Pipit, Raven & Stonechat). Chris remains in first place on the comparative minileague table with 114% at Stirling while his Kinneil patch remains in eight but increases the comp score there by 10%.


Alastair's Ring-necked Duck helps him secure his first place on the Inland Scotland Points Minileague table with a strong 20 point lead. The highest species lister on the table, David Douglas, remains in second place with 127 species and 142 points at Loch Leven.  


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What is the 'patchwork' challenge?

-
Image
The birding fraternity has seen a shift in attitudes recently, with many birders turning their attention from twitching towards rarity finding.   As a result, there also seems to have been an upturn in the profile watching a local patch. The advantages of watching a local patch are obvious. Low fuel costs and travel time aside, great pleasure can be derived from getting to learn a place inside out, observing how the seasons change, and getting value from common species that otherwise wouldn’t get a second glance. Throw in the potential for the odd rare bird or scarcity and to me, you have a really exciting, involving way to enjoy your birding. So what could enhance the patch watchers enjoyment a little? Well, perhaps adding an element of competition would do the trick. We’re a competitive bunch, us birders, both with our peers and ‘internally’ as well. We like a gloat, we like to add things to lists, and we like to know what the numbers are. So why not see if we can add a ...
Read more

November round-up 2025

-
Image
Hello from the Patchwork Challenge team!   December is a funny month. Most things have settled down for the winter but there still can be the odd bird that can provide interest! It is a month that does have some pedigree too, last year turning up species like Grey-headed Lapwing (presumably a late returning bird) into Northumberland, American Yellow Warbler in Kent, - wintering Hume's, Pallas's or Yellow-broweds can be found throughout the month also while its typically a good month for Rough-legged Buzzard, but these have been on short supply this autumn and early winter. Not all migration is over, if any cold weather occurs, hopefully a hard weather movement will begin moving wildfowl, waders, larks and finches off their frozen fields and wetlands and onto less used habitat. During this, it's a perfect time to pick up these moving flocks flying through, particularly if your patch has little to no standing water. If the weather on the continent is just as inclement, specie...
Read more

October round-up 2025

-
Image
Hello from the Patchwork Challenge team!  We hope you have enjoyed taking part so far this year, but that certainly was a slow October if we ever knew it! We do really appreciate everyone taking part and sharing what they have seen and done, it is what keeps the competition alive! For the rest of November, remember to keep a look out for that last rare Siberian vagrant wherever your patch might be! Whilst I have been pulling this together, many of both Pallas's and Hume's Leaf Warblers have been gracing the coasts of Britain, with even a Pallas's turning up inland Wiltshire! Other scarcer species turning up have included Richard's Pipits, Great Grey Shrikes and Dusky Warblers, all inland too. It is the time of year to be on the look out for the more regular later autumn species like Hen Harrier, Waxwings, Lapland and Snow Bunting, Shore Lark, Twite and fortunatly these species have a habit of showing up just about anywhwere! Coastal patches have been picking up on some ...
Read more