My Spanish Patch

I (James) visit expat land in Spain with a fair degree of regularity due to a doddery old relative who lives on the Costa Blanca near Torrevieja. This is an area which is full of the usual full english breakfast eating, beer swilling, slightly racist, slightly sexist stereotypes you see in the sitcom Benidorm but I had heard a rumour that my 'auntie' lived adjacent to a nature reserve. Over six years ago before I first visited my wife told tales of such exotica as Hoopoe's and Flamingoes from the villa. I naturally was sold as I had done next to no birding outside the UK and was able to swallow my pride and head to what in my head was the cultural equivalent of Sodom and Gomorrah. I was wrong about the place - yes, it has the cultural clout of a piece of candyfloss but the people are  pleasant (and not all English) and the birds, oh boy the birds!

I can still remember the first morning I went birding clear as a bell. Full time nights, full time uni and a very broken car were stacking up and I needed a week of warmth and escape. I woke early and could feel the late March sun, already over 20c warming me in my bed when a sound drifted in. 'Hoop hoop hoop'. I was up and away. Within minutes I had seen half a dozen lifers with Woodchat Shrike, Slender-billed Gull, Sardinian Warbler, Flamingo, Black-winged Stilt, Crested Lark (it was actually Thekla I now know) and best of all two scrapping territorial Hoopoes. On a visit these days the birds would barely garner a mention as all are pretty common as are the Black-necked Grebes which winter here although numbers have never rivalled the number I saw that day (4-5000 and apparently the largest wintering population in Europe). The reserve is La Mata y Torrevieja and it is a pair of salt extraction lakes with La Mata being used to control the water levels of the workings on La Torrevieja.

Over the last 6 years I have made more than annual visits at all times of the year and seen a lot of what is to offer. I have found breeding Booted Eagles and Montagu's Harriers which are replaced by wintering Hen Harriers. There have been Hobbys and Ospreys, three species of Swift, all the European Hirundines, wintering northern European species including Siskin and Redwing, both species of Nightjar, falls of Pied Flycatchers, Redstarts and Wood Warblers. And endless Stone Curlews. Hundreds of them. These days when I visit I often head further afield for Bustards or Spotted Eagles but I always take time to enjoy what is on my doorstep, a mere 4 yards away.

One of my favourite sightings would have been extremely mundane on either of my two patches in the challenge. I heard a crest calling and another reply. The default in Alicante and at La Mata is Firecrest so when my neck bristled through familiarity I was surprised. I played a bit of Goldcrest call and low and behold two Goldcrests emerged on the edge of the reserve which I promptly photographed and forgot about. It wasnt until I showed this photo to a local birder that I realised how rare these birds were in the area with no fully documented records in the province and hearsay of the odd bird in the mountains in winter. I was pretty chuffed!

The site is a very large lake which you can watch from the southern side. At the west end there are citrus groves and a reedbed over which three species of harriers have been seen and a solitary Great Spotted Cuckoo. The citrus groves are a favourite of passage Wheatears and chats. The south side is stone pine scrub and xerophytic salt marsh which is filled with shrikes and Sardinian Warblers with waders in the water. There are a couple of small islands which hold breeding terns. The east end has some light allotment type land use and is more touristy with cycle trails and picnic areas including a wood which has corsican pine and broadleaved trees favoured by Pied Flycatchers, Firecrests and Western Bonelli's Warblers on passage. East of the site itself is some grass covered wasteland which holds chats and Quail. A strip of coastal ribbon development shields the site from the sea but less than a few hundred metres away are some low cliffs which have given up coastal waders and Balearic Shearwaters. And looking up always helps with a fine selection of raptors and aerial insectivores.

 At present my patch list stands at 117 species but I have some glaring omissions including Little Ringed Plover, Monk Parakeet, several easy heron species and Reed Bunting. Also on my most wanted are Rufous Scrub Robin and Richard's Pipit. The former breeds discretely I am told whilst the latter winters in small numbers on the allotments amongst hordes of Meadow Pipits.

Bresser and Forest Optics Best Find Competition

The Bresser & Forest Optics Best Find Competition is the piece de resistance for Patchwork Challenge. This is the best find of the whole patchbirding year as voted for by you, the competitors. 

For the winner of the competition, those fine folk at Bresser & Forest Optics are very generously furnishing the winner of this esteemed competition with a pair of Bresser Montana 8.5 x 45 Binoculars worth £665.00. Follow the link to check out this superb reward that awaits one lucky patcher!

Whilst Hurricane Bertha did not really deliver up any tasty megas for patchworkers there were some really nice rares amongst the best finds reported during August.

The Stilt Sandpaper found by Ian Robson on his Druridge Pools patch in the North of England was a great bird but as a refind after the bird was initially discovered at Cresswell the chances of this winning the overall prize would seem slim.

Stilt Sandpiper (Ian Fisher)

 On the other hand the Booted Warbler found by Barrie Hamill on his Burra, Orkney patch will be on the shortlist. Both are birds I wouldn't mind turning up on my patch. A brace of Citrine Wagtails were found, one by our own Mark Lewis at Girdle Ness and the other by Paul Massey at Grindon Lough which was a site first and the eleventh county record.

Booted Warbler (Paul Higson)

 Looks like the North of the British Isles was the place to be last month.

Some of the scarcer birds during the month included a whole slew of Long-tailed Skuas from across the entire patchworking map, Joe Stockwell (Portland), James Brown ( Lowestoft),  James Spencer (Barmston) and Eammon O Donnell( Ninch/Laytown, Ireland) all found them, whilst Chris Bradshaw at Long Nab in Yorkshire managed to find 5 birds over 2 days, a good number indeed for that part of the country. Chris also scored with both Cory's and Great Shearwater during a single seawatch. Others finding the scarcer shears included Cory's for Joe at Portland and Julian Wylie (Baltimore), with Great Shearwaters being found by Tom Cadwallender (Alnmouth), Jack Bucknall (St Mary's Island) and Peter Donnelly (North Ronaldsay).

Moving on to the scarcer passerines found during the month, a couple of Common Rosefinches were found in Scotland, Ian T finding one on his Askernish patch, whilst the other was at Gary Bell's Sumburgh site. Chris Bradshaw scores again with an Ortolan Bunting at Long Nab and an Icterine Warbler for James Brown in Lowestoft earns him a second mention.

Some of the almost there birds include, a Franklin's gull seen by Tommy Corcoran at Gt Yarmouth and the Western Bonelli's warbler Joe Stockwell saw at Portland Bill, hard luck guys as it is best found, not seen.

South West Minileague - August

Local leader Joe Stockwell adds the national lead to his crown and is closing on 300 points. 359 last year was enough to win it - can Joe do it? Kev Rylands may well be handing his SW crown over but he continues to fight on whilst Sean Foote who patches North Portland is challenging just 14 points back. Most of this months best finds are Joe's with Wryneck, Stone Curlew, Cory's Shearwater and Long-tailed Skua all garnering bonus points. Kev managed to see a Rose-coloured Starling but somebody else beat him to the punch. A Red-neck Phalarope for Paul Bowerman meant he held near namesake Paul Bowyer at bay. Plenty of points for Gordon Hodgson without any finds as two Cattle Egrets and a Marsh Sandpiper graced Saul Warth.

Paul Bowyer loses top spot as Dan Chaney hits 94% but its extremely close with 5% covering the top 6 places. Marcus Lawson is now in third but the comparative league is anyone's game and extremely competitive!

NGB Minileague - August

It’s as you were at the top of the NGB league with Joe Stockwell on Portland leading the way (as well as leading the national league). A very impressive 42 points accumulated during August included a 4-pointer Western Bonelli’s Warbler and a hatful of self-find bonuses including Long-tailed Skua, Cory’s Shearwater, Stone Curlew and Wryneck. Tim Jones remains in the hunt for the top spot however, finds of Icterine Warbler and Red-backed Shrike means he’s only a find of a mega away from catching up. Ben Porter didn’t submit a score for Bardsey for August but stays put to round off the podium positions.

Ben may well be feeling the heat slightly due to Jack Bucknall’s St Mary’s patch making gains in 4^th position. 33 points added during August thanks to a heap of seabirds including self-found Great Shearwater means he is only 18 points away from the podium, a good autumn on the east coast could see him right up there. Further down the league and sees James Common breaking into the top 10 thanks to a raptor hat-trick of Hobby, Red Kite and Marsh Harrier.

With only 23 points covering 9 places from 5^th-13^th the next couple of months could see a dramatic shake up in this league, school and university may strike at just the wrong time for some competitors however!

Alternative Highlights from Bardsey

Hummingbird Hawkmoth

Summer is often a time when birding the patch can be a little bit dull. For the few quiet weeks from late June to the end of July, interesting discoveries can be made by looking at the smaller inhabitants of our patches. For me, studying moths and other insects is a very enjoyable part of the summer (and whole year for that matter), and placing moth traps out every night can often produce some interesting records. 

Cock'sfoot Moth

Pseudrgyrotoza conwagana 

This summer, particular highlights from the Lepidoptera side of things have been looking at Thrift Clearwings (Nationally Scarce B) on the coast of the island, watching the amazing migrant Hummingbird Hawkmoths feeding on Fuschia and Honeysuckle, and discovering new species of micro moths for Bardsey. Some interesting ones this summer have been Pseudargyrotoza conwagana, a yellowish tortrix moth which is fairly common in the UK; Tebenna micalis, which is a very scarce migrant from the south, with just one or two records in the whole of North Wales; and finding the larval case of the micro Psyche casta in a small rock crevice on the east side.

Rosy Footman

Tebenna micalis

Thrift Clearwing

Psyche casta

As well as the abundance of moths that appears during the summer, it has been nice to see several Emperor Dragonflies arriving on the island (quite scarce here), along with Bardsey’s first Black-tailed Skimmer and a Brimstone Butterfly (very rare here).

Emperor Dragonfly

 Aside from insects, a particular highlight of late summer every year comes from watching the various pods of Risso’s Dolphins, which can be seen off the island’s coast on calm days. This year, I was able to participate with the Whale and Dolphin Conservation team (WDC), and help taking pictures of their dorsal fins as part of their photo-ID project on this species. A Sunfish was seen on one trip out in the boat, but there have been no whales this year!

Risso's Dolphin

Ben Porter

Bardsey

Wales Minileague - August

Steve Stansfield's update didnt arrive until after the graphics had been done and with nothing from Ben or Barry either it is lower down where we concentrate. Matt Meehan added ten points to get within three of third place. Best finds away from the hotspots were meagre with Whinchat, Med Gull and Wood Warbler sharing the spoils. Peter Howlett at Cardiff Bay moves up a spot to divide and conquer Henry Cook and his Conwy RSPB patch which remains ahead of Julian Hughes at the same location. Mark Hipkin climbs the table with 24 points added and 3 places gained.

No advances from AlisonC but she holds firm locally as her national lead starts to erode. Henry Cook nor Adam Tilt fail to make progress but Matt moves to within 1% of third with a pack down to 8th position covered by not a huge percentage. 

London Minileague - August

A good turnout in this league with 8 of the 14 patches submitting scores for August. Some good little battles are cropping up all down the table, not least at the top where Adam Bassett retains the top spot thanks to self-found Honey Buzzard and Osprey. His lead has been cut to 5 points by Nick Croft at Rainham who was aided by a Spotted Crake during the month. Nick's Wanstead patch moves up to the last podium position although Marek is still within touching distance so it could all change yet.

Michael Terry remains in the lead of the comparison league and is joined by Adam Bassett in the 100% club. A good autumn for any of these competitors could change everything however.