Patchwork Challenge

Long time leader of the Coastal East Anglia Comparative Minileague Rob Hall holds on to the top spot as he added a further 5% in December with a Short-eared Owl the highlight of his December. Well done Rob, it will take some matching in 2017! Ryan Irvine stayed in second place, holding off the towering presence of James Brown's patch with a few excellent birds such as Iceland Gull, Purple Sandpiper, Bewick's Swan and Slavonian Grebe, all less than annual at Hemsby. James's astonishing year ended slowly as he failed to add any species in December. With 209 species and 327 points I'm sure he isn't complaining too much. Craig Fulcher was the only mover in the league as moved into the top 5, just failing to reach the magical 100% mark. Bewick's Swans Congratulations to James Brown as he holds on to the top spot he's occupied for most (all?) of the year in the points minileague. A truly mammoth score of 327 points will take some beating next year. Ry...

There was a familiar theme with sightings this month for coastal East Anglia patchers, seaduck, geese, seawatching and waxwings. Rob Hall added 8% to his already very impressive year with the additions of Long-tailed Duck, Snow Bunting, White-fronted Geese and Bewick's Swans. All classic winter birds in East Anglia but always a delight to see on patch. Ryan Irvine was the big mover this month, jumping to 2nd from 4th as he also added 8% including two bonus pointers, Leach's Petrel and the 3rd record ever of Crane for him at Hemsby. Highlight of the month was a Water Rail found in the dunes, a full fat patch tick! James Brown and Scott Mayson drop a place each despite James adding Little Auk, Long-tailed Duck and Snow Bunting. The only other mover in the comparative league was Nige Lound as he creeps into the top 5 thanks to a patch tick Green-winged Teal and two Storm-petrels, only the 4th and 5th records for Gibraltar Point NNR. Excellent month for geese throughout the r...

The top of the comparative table has a very familiar look as the top three remain the same, all adding 9-11% in October, James Brown in particular having a busy month, finding 2 Dusky Warbler and Great Grey Shrike, seeing another GGS plus Pallas's Warbler. Scott Mayson added some bonus points with Yellow-browed Warbler and Sabine's Gull but his highlight of the month was a Moorhen! Ryan Irvine was the biggest mover this month adding 28% and leaping up to 4th place adding 4 full fat patch ticks, Bearded Tit, Hawfinch, Sabine's Gull and Little Egret. Nigel Lound stays in 7th despite adding 11% with a 3rd ever patch Puffin outshining the Pallas's Warbler and Red-flanked Bluetail on his patch. James Brown's lead at the top of the points league has been cut to a miserly 35 pts as Ryan Irvines great October pushed him up to 2nd place. Nigel Lound stays in the podium positions, leap frogging Justin Zantboer. Justin must be one of the unluckiest PWC competitors as he...

Rob Hall had an excellent September to add 19% to his comparative score to hit 113%. His highlights this month included bonus points for Temminck's Stint and Great White Egret. James Brown becomes the second over the 100% mark just reaching the target with most of the autumn to go. James got bonus points for Yellow-browed Warbler and Long-tailed Skua this month. Scott Mayson closes in on 100% after finding Honey Buzzard and Long-tailed Skua at Thorpeness this month to move into striking range of second place. James Brown's Lowestoft patch is in top spot in the points minileague, 42 points ahead of second place. He also added Balearic Shearwater and Black-throated Diver this month to round out a productive time. Justin Zantboer extends his cushion in second place having seen an Arctic Warbler at Landguard plus Wryneck and Icterine Warbler. Nige Lound at Gib Point remains in third as well adding 13 points. Best find this month was a Tawny Pipit unearthed by Paul Eele at ...

  James Brown continues his dominance in the Coastal East Anglian league matching his continuing lead at the top of the point lead with a table topping performance in the comparative. Additions of Wryneck, Sooty Shearwater and Curlew Sandpiper ensured that he surpassed Rob Hall who drew a blank month in August. Both are still neck and neck for the title.   The Wryneck at Corton which helped James Brown take top spot in the comparative league. c/o Ben Moyes   Whilst no-one has reached the 100% barrier yet, September and October will hopefully provide a few bonus pointers to push people on to the ultimate goal of PWC, to beat your own score.      In the points league, James Brown has built up what looks to be an unassailable lead. The battle for the podium spots however is much tighter with just 4 points separating Justin Zantboer and Nige Lound, both of whom had relatively quiet months. The distraction of Birdfair was one of the reaso...

Rob Hall continues on the top of the Coastal East Anglia comparative minileague and closes in on 100%. He adds 3% in July to sit on 92%. No news from North Lowestoft means James Brown remains static on 87% in second. Scott Mayson adds 2% to close on second position on the podium. James Brown is top of the points minileague, becalmed for now on 250 points. Justin Zantboer in second position adds 9 points to close up at the top Spoonbill, Garganey, Wood Sandpiper and a patchgold Treecreeper. Paul Eele at Titchwell managed to connect with the brief Stone Curlew that graced the reserve and padding the list with Spotted Flycatcher and House Sparrow. The highlights column this month is very thin with Bearded Tits for Irene Boston at Brancaster a belated addition and James Appleton noting Manx Shearwater and Common Tern. And thats it. Good luck for the autumn!

Very little movement in the comparative league as Rob Hall holds on to the lead despite adding no new birds in June. James Brown reduces the gap at the top to 2% thanks to a nice trio of Blue-winged Teal, Marsh Warbler and Bluethroat in the Lowestoft area. Scott Mayson holds on to the last podium place but Tommy Corcoran is closing in on him, mainly thanks to finding a Caspian Tern at Breydon Water. The lower positions all remain the same despite Ryan finding a male Golden Oriole at Hemsby! Caspian Tern, Breydon Water c/o Tommy Corcoran While the comparative league was largely dormant in June the points table had some real movers. James Brown still hold a commanding lead thanks to the aforementioned birds but we have new challengers in the shape of Justin Zantboer (a massive 72 points since last update) and Tommy Corcoran. Justin moved from 10th to 2nd thanks to an amazing month, adding Little Bittern, Whiskered Tern, Kentish Plover (all patch ticks), Montagu's Ha...

No new additions for Rob Hall this month has seen James Brown close the gap to 6% at the top after he added 23 points with the help of 6pts for Great White Egret and a couple of 3 pointers including Greenish Warbler and Temminck's Stint. Scott Mayson climbs into the top 3 as he adds 7% for the month while Craig Fulcher has a quiet month on patch has he spent much of the month gallivanting around China. Ryan Irvine had a good month after 3.5 months off patch and managed to add 52 species including bonus points for Wryneck, Montagu's Harrier and Red-backed Shrike . Red-backed Shrike, Hemsby c/o Ryan Irvine James Brown is running away with the points league as his lead increases to 42 points. The top 3 remain as they were at the end of April. Highlights were thin on the ground and perhaps a sign of the times that Turtle Dove and Whinchat were highlights as they become ever harder to see on the coast this spring, well done Irene for catching up with both! A thought shou...

Rob Hall continues his dominance in the comparative league adding 10% to his end of March score. Craig Fulcher had an excellent month finding Crane and Great White Egret for some much needed bonus points while James Brown makes the top 3 thanks to finding Cranes as well as some ggod patch birds turning up such as Lesser Yellowlegs and Wood Warbler. Gary White also managed some bonus points with a cracking Great Grey Shrike, a very nice spring find! Great Grey Shrike found by Gary White James Brown has increased his lead at the top after another superb month while Craig Fulcher leap frogs Paul Eele into 2nd. Not much movement in terms of league placings but some cracking birds seen throughout the month as several patches catch up with an 'easy' 6 pointer Crane. Irene Boston lucked in on a short staying Little Ringed Plover in Brancaster and a Nightingale at Thornham, both patch ticks. Tommy Corcoran added several new species the highlight perhaps his Hawfinch, an...

Rob Hall's excellent PPB total of 1.493 sees him take top spot in the comparative league. 79.7% is an excellent score for a coastal site by this time of the year. Scott Mayson is in second with a patch tick Rock Pipit whilst Craig Fulcher secures third place. A good run of two pointers for James Brown at North Lowestoft has given him an 11 point buffer at the end of the first quarter of the year. Paul Eele bags second spot with four more species than Craig Fulcher, but they are matching on points with an impressive 153 at the end of March. With Spring just around the corner, it could be all change by the end of May with plenty of bonus point potential on this stretch of the coast.    The delay in spring migration seemed to be evident in this league, with few spring migrants making the highlights. March is a great month to catch up with Black Redstart and James Appleton and James Brown did just that. March was also notable for movements in Firecrests ...

Rob Hall was omitted by accident from the January comparative minileague and so despite no additions this month he slots in straight away on top of the league. Craig Fulcher is in second place on 57% after a superb start to the year, February saw Craig add Great White Egret to his patch list plus patch ticking Glaucous Gull and also his first Shag for three years. Scott Mayson is in third place on 55% at Thorpeness and in February there were four Spoonbills gracing his patch. James Brown is over 150 points already! He adds seven points in February with nothing of note added which makes the monster haul more remarkable. Craig Fulchere is in second place on 142 points at Southwold, moving up a spot from January as Paul Eele slips into third place at Titchwell on 132 points. Last years winner, Nige Lound is in fourth place with Black Brant his highlight. Justin Zantboer is on Nige's coattails and it looks like there will be a serious fight for Nige to keep his crown. There was a...

James Brown at North Lowestoft has made an excellent start to the year, nailing 120 species which is 11 higher than last year. It has enabled him to take an early lead in the comparative league, with Thorpeness just a whisker behind. Craig Fulcher's Southwold patch took the prize last year with a superb 130.8%, so he has set himself quite a task this year but has started well by also hitting 100 species in month one. Newcomer to the comparative league, Nige Lound's monster score at Gibraltar Point last year has set him quite a challenge this year, emphasized by a points total in January of 117 making only 34.5% of last years total. James Brown lead at the end of January last year with a score of 129. This year  he has hit top spot again, his score of 147 including a raft of two pointers. He ticked off a number of winter scarcities including Glaucous and Caspian Gulls, Hen Harrier, Water Pipit and Velvet Scoter. He also scored with Great Northern Diver, James Spe...

No further additions for Craig Fulcher in December but his 130% score was more than enough to seal the Coastal East Anglia comparative minileague. Ryan Irvine finished second after his purple patch in the autumn with 117%. His year was topped off with a Red-necked Grebe in December. Tommy Corcoran sealed third place from James Brown, finishing on 107% with Shag his only December addition. On the points front there was only one winner as Nige Lound's exceptional year at Gibraltar Point finished with 339 points. As Nige failed to add any new birds in December the gap fell by two but the remaining 45 point cushion made it comfortable enough! Ryan finished 43 points ahead of his previous comparative score to end up in second spot. His December grebe was enough to outstrip James Brown as they finished November neck and neck. James unfortunately didn't find any new birds so finishes third on the podium. Gary White managed to secure 8th place and overtake Scott Mayson in December...

With just 5 out of 16 respondents in November perhaps some are holding their score back for the last. Despite this Craig Fulcher increased his comparative score by a further 4% to wrap up the minileague with a month to spare (unless Ryan or Tommy manages 40 odd points over the next few days). This month Craig added Suffolk's 10th record of Black Guillemot to his cannon alongside Little Auk and 18 Bewick's Swans. Ryan's sofa generated a Leach's Petrel but he had legwork for his other additions of Iceland Gull, Merlin and his second patch record of Avocet. Tommy Corcoran held onto third with 5% gains in November. A flyby Velvet Scoter for Ryan Nige Lound's seawatching efforts stretched his lead to 47 points in November. His best bits this month were 6 Egyptian Geese although honorable mentions go to his Slav Grebe and Long-tailed Duck. James Brown held onto a share of second thanks to a Little Auk but Ryan's assortments from Hemsby mean that it is a shoot...

Craig Fulcher has added more than 16% in October to extend his lead with a quadruple hit of bonus points for finding Great Grey Shrike, Serin, Leach's Petrel and of course Yellow-browed Warbler. Ryan Irvine's mind bending run as documented on the blog meant he added 25% in one month including finding Red-flanked Bluetail and Olive-backed Pipit on one visit and a plethora of Great Grey Shrikes plus a Pallas's Warbler. Tommy Corcoran becomes the third patcher to cross the 100% barrier and whilst he dropped a spot this month his 11% gain is not to be sniffed at. His finds included Radde's Warbler, Great Grey Shrike and Yellow-brow whilst American Golden Plover and Lesser Yellowlegs were also handy additions. Radde's Warbler - Tommy Corcoran Nige Lound managed 22 bonus points this month and added 54 points in another excellent month at Gibraltar Point. His undoubted highlight was a self-found Pallid Harrier and he also managed to dig out Richard's Pipit, Gr...

Despite being part of the PWC admin team I am useless when it comes to using Facebook but the last 11 days on patch have been some of the most enjoyable days I’ve had at Hemsby and it had finally given me the kick up the backside I needed to post on Facebook but I soon realised that it is too long for a FB post so here we are: 11 days in the life of a patcher! It was on the 8 th October when it all really started kicking off here, a pre-work walk round the Kings Loke (a small patch of trees, scrub and long grass near my house) was duly rewarded with some notable patch birds and this is what I wrote in my notebook: “Great morning, finches constantly moving overhead including 4 Crossbills . 2 Yellow-browed Warbler near east entrance to Kings Loke and a Swift overhead. Another YBW and 2 Firecrest with a large tit/crest flock in the middle of the Loke. Also a Ring Ouzel on the hedgerow. Finally, a Black Redstart on the roof of house two doors down from my house and 4 Snow Bun...