Hello from the Patchwork Challenge team!
We have now completed our monthly review for July and it seems to have been a slow month nationally, with a lot of effort put in but little reward gained with a few points scored here and there. However, there have still been some nice birds recorded, including this stunning adult White-winged Black Tern on Gordon's Estuarine patch of Frampton, Splatt & Saul Warth. Read on to find out what more has been seen! We hope you will enjoy.
White-winged Black Tern, Frampton Sailing Lake, Gordon Hodgson
Leading scores by mini league 3km²:
Inland North, England:
Ben Moyes keeps the top spot with 183 points at Swillington Ings, with no additions in July. It has become neck and neck for second place with Duncan Bye at Wheldrake Ings stuck on 159 points while Ciarian Rowett has caught him up at WWT Martin Mere, whose monthly highlights include Nuthatch and Black-necked Grebe. Lee Wiseman in fourth only added one species, a flock of Common Scoters calling overhead one late evening, a typical thing in the Pennines in July and August, putting him on 137 points. Darren Best at Swinemoor and Mike Leakey at Bishop Middleham are on joint fifth place with 125 points - Mike's highlights were Whimbrel and Hobby. Owen Tattersall at Figham Common and Paul Whitehouse at Stanley Ferry Flash and Southern Washlands are also on the same number of points in sixth with 94. Owen's highlights include Kingfishers and patch tick Tawny Owl while Paul's highlight is Spoonbill. The rest of the table is still very tight, as three contestants are on 91, 90 and 89, with Phil Woollen at Mollington currently on top of this little battle for ninth.
Inland Midlands, England:
Peter Sofley is still up top after achieving 160 points at Ladywlk NR, his month's highligh was certainly Willow Tit but also recorded Black-tailed Godwit. There has been no place changes in the top five of this league so Steve Atkinson at Middle Tame is still in second on 142 points, with no additions in July. In third, Andy Sims has kept his position, scoring 124 points by the end of month - the best bird being the first patch record of Spoonbill. Brian Hedley at Trent Port/Marton now on 113 points, his best birds of July included Redstart, five Ravens and a Hobby. Tom Shields at Colwick Park had a nice inland record of Sandwich Tern at Colwick Park, putting him on 107 points, and a fantastic comparitve score of 98% - the highest in this league. Steve Lister still trailing Tom by two points, he is now on 105 points and his highlight being Redshank. William Lambourne now in seventh at Much Marcle scoring 96 points by the end of the month, and having two patch golds in July in the form of Little Grebe and Little Egret! Dan Leadley in Dereham, Norfolk, is still on 72 points from 70 species.
In the 10km league, Andy Sims at Swanpool is now first with 149 points, Richard Harbird in the Redditch area is now second after scoring 145 points, his highlight being a Wood Sandpiper at Morton Bagot. Tom Shields at Nottingham Trent Valley is on a superb 99% comparitive score, with 144 points so far, his highlights include Black-tailed Godwit and Marsh Harrier. William Lambourne in fourth, but his moment of migration magic sounds ace with drizzle creating an inland fall of warblers, including over a hundred Chiffchaffs and 30 Reed Warblers, as well as five Spotted Flycatchers. Will also noted his first local Redshank during the month, leaving him on a 98% comparitive score, which Dan Webb in fifth is also on, after noting both Greenshank (this being just a second record for the patch) and Redshank giving him a end of month score of 124 points. Steve Lister isn't far behind on 116 points.
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| Spoonbill as well as Great and Little Egret, Boultham Mere, Andy Sims |
Inland South, England:
No change in points or position to the top three spots, which are held by Matthew Dick at RSPB Lakenheath, Geoff Wyatt at Day's Lock and Freddie Matthews at Winchester respectively. John Pritchard adding a couple of points, putting him on 112 in fourth with a pair of breeding Spotted Flycatchers. Gareth Casburn at Ardley ERF added five points in July, he is now on 109 points and a great comparitive score of 97%. Conor Mackenzie at Sutton Courtenay fell behind to sixth, after not adding any points in July. Neil Burt had two additions at Godinton, Hothfield & Singleton, with typical July fare of five Spotted Flycatchers and up to 29 Crossbills, putting him on a fantastic 99% comparitive. Ian Bennell at Tring Reservoirs still on 103 points but Gareth Blockley almost caught him up, after adding four points puts him on 102 at Grimsbury Reservoir and East Banbury. Next is Charlie Joseph at Weald CP and Bentley area is on 86 points, with highlights of Crossbill and Hobby.
Over in the 10km league, Dave Helliar at Chard is still at the top spot with 142 points scores, 95% comparitively, his highlights include Cattle Egret, Redshank and Black-tailed Godwit.
Coastal East, England:
Jack Pettit has been running away with the score so far, mopping up 290 points at Spurn with highlights including finding a White-rumped Sandpiper, but also seeing Honey Buzzard, Wood Warbler and a local mega Stone Curlew. Trevor Girling at Titchwell RSPB is in second with 233 points followed by Owen Beaumont at Saltfleetby-Theddlethorpe Dunes NNR, who had an excitable month with White-winged Black Tern, Bee-eater and Osprey putting him on 224 points. James Brown at Lowestoft had Roseate Tern and Little Gull, classic July species, so he finished the month on 183 points. Paul French in Easington noted Bee-eater and Crossbill over his garden, but also was hearing broods of Sparrowhawk and Tawny Owl on repeat, 24hrs a day. Stuart Ainsworth at Gibraltar Point is only one point behind Paul while there is quite a gap to seventh with Will Scott on 151 points at Bempton Cliffs. Duncan Watson has increased his tally to 145 points at Tynemouth and so has John Chapman at South Tyneside to 129 points, keeping that local rivalry alive. Paul Newton at Hawsker Bottom is on 97 points but logged a patch first with three Gadwall, patch gold!
Coastal West, England:
Sean O'Hara added one point to his score, making him finish July on 134 points at Leasowe, Meols and Hoylake. Unfortunatly he is still the only particapant in this league.
Coastal South, England:
There isn't much change in the top spots in any of the leagues, and this league is the same with Jacob Spinks in the Dungeness Bird Observatory recording area now 263 points, after a very slow July with Honey Buzzard being a late addition to the year list. Amy Robjohns has clawed back second place after updating her scores, she is now on 184 points at Titchfield Haven. Kevin Reynolds is in third at his Dawlish Warren patch with 160 points. His window patch at Teignmouth is stuck on 63 points. In the 10km league, Jacob Spinks at Dungeness broke the 300 point mark with 309 recorded, the highlight being an adult Pectoral Sandpiper. Amy Robjohns covering The Solent area notched up 186 points putting her in second quickly followed by Bob Ford on his walking around Weymouth who finished July on 180 points, his highlight being Yellow-legged Gull.
Gordon Hodgson at Frampton, Splatt & Saul Warth is still in the lead with now 159 points, a very good 93% comparitive score - his two highlights were a patch gold (and tick) White-winged Black Tern as well as Crossbill. Peter Hazelwood at Oldbury Power Station still on 144 points in second and Jackie Binks at Garston Coastal/Oglet in third, added one point to their tally, now on 122 points.
Islands:
After David's mega June on Fair Isle, he added no additons to his year list in July so he continues to be on 216 points. John Bowler on Balephuil is slowly catching him up, adding three points in July to reach a total of 219, highlights being Greenshank and Little Grebe. David Roche on the cusp of 200 points is 10 points behind John, but had some good totals of a second-calender year Long-tailed Skua and a singing Quail. Steve Dudley on Westray had no change there, but Sean Morris on both of his Isle of Rum 3km patches added one point, putting him on 110 and 99 points respectively. In the 10km league, John Bowler on Tirree logged the Wood Duck again after a lengthy absence as well as Storm Petrel leaving him in first place with 226 points. Steve Dudley on Westray noted two additions, Red-necked Phalarope and Swift, both could be the only record of the year there - Steve finished the month on 213 points. Sean Morris on Rum added two points from last month, now on 132.
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| Swallow, Tiree, John Bowler |
Inland Scotland:
The only change in the league is that Lee Hesp at Strathyre added a couple of species, with one of these being his second two pointer of the year - a Hooded Crow. This putting him on 56 points.
Coastal Scotland:
Newcomer Dylan Daut at Musselburgh has taken the top spot with 174 points, which means Andrew Whewell is now in second after increasing his points tally too 139 at North Berwick. Nick Littlewood at Portsoy had a good month, bringing his total up to 135 points after patch ticking Sanderling, but also adding Crossbill and Sooty Shearwater for the year. Rich Arthurs at Gullane/Aberlady Bay is now in fourth, just one point behind Nick. There was no change in the lower part of the league but Rob Hughes at Nybster and Andrew Whitehouse at Girdle Ness and Torry are only one point apart, 130 and 129 respectively.
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| Red Kite, Caithness, Rob Hughes |
No changes in any of the following leagues: Coastal Wales, Inland Wales, Coastal Ireland and Inland Ireland.
Remember to keep us updated, by using either the #PWC2025 or #PatchBirding hashtags on Bluesky and Twitter! Please post photos, and we will try to include as many as possible in our monthly round-ups. Any questions or mistakes that need editing, don't hesitate to get in touch via direct message. Good luck for the rest of August and we look forward to seeing what you get!
We have also secured funding for this year's prizes, so keep your eyes peeled and ears sharp for new patch year ticks this autumn! Funding has been secured through the writing of an article coming next year and also from your purchases from our shop, which is available at https://patchwork-challenge.teemill.com/. If you want a personalised item, these can be done but will just take longer. We hope you enjoy!
Happy Birding,
Patchwork Challenge team
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