The 200 club -- A personal slant.

I find it fascinating and quite fun to see how various participants progress and enjoy their listing in Gr. Manchester (be it year listing, site listing, borough listing, or G.M. listing). As I see it, the spin off benefit is that it probably gets more birders out in the field more often and covering more places than otherwise might possibly be the case.

Certainly when I am able to get down to Greater Manchester, it is always with a degree of excitement in the expectation that as there are so many species for me to catch up with, I can generally make some progress of sorts either to my very modest site lists and/or several borough lists I have started to maintain.
It helps to come down from Durham preferably at different seasons and also to try to coordinate visits with the occurrence of potential GM lifers, (which in a perfect world would all turn up in 3's and 4's and stick around for 3 days !).
I have no expectation of ever gaining membership of the 200 club however, (distance, time, expense, and the limits of marital forbearance will doubtless mitigate against that). However, one is free to dream, and if I can achieve 175 this year, then that will be for me a pretty creditable mark.

Accepting that there are "closet" 200 club members not in the list table, I was curious to see who of those listed have been the main "movers and shakers" in 10 months since I last made a note of how the table stood from an arbitrary starting date (which happens to be May 5th 2010).

Of those already in the select club I found the following:

May 5th 2010 March 5th 2011
John Rayner 215 223 + 8
Alan Warford 221 226 + 5
Mark Rigby 210 215 + 5

Of the rest I found :

Iain Johnson 176 194 + 18
Ian Campbell 169 179 + 10
Geoff Hargreaves 168 176 + 8
Tim Wilcox 162 170 + 8

As at May 5th 2010 there were 16 listed 200 club members, 10 months later there were 20, (3 having gained promotion, and one having joined from the "closet" ranks).
As for my own obsession, it's all the fault of three individuals, (Rayner, McKerchar, and a certain Audenshaw Purple Sandpiper!)

Regards,
Mike P.

Well Gentlemen and ladies, the year comes to an end. It has had its ups and downs, but thats life.

The tournament ends with an amazing third win for Ian McKerchar, and what a tournament it has been, filled with fantastic birds, and amazing numbers . The top 3 all deserve a pat on the back, as for the trophy it will be present to Ian in the new year.

Hope 2011 brings the birds to you.

Keep Birding

Well done Steve!!!

Dave

Simon Warford wrote:

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Paul Wilson wrote:

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Anyone up for an evening out in the usual pub soon? My 50th is coming up near t'end of this month (26th) and wondered if anyone fancies helping me get over it!

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Yes Paul, count me in, as its your "party" you can choose the venue.
Look forward to you gettin the beers in

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me too, ages since l got silly drunk

I know, I know!! This is worse than waiting for one number at bingo!
Well done Simon- glad you made it. The one spin off though is I now stand alone at the top of the 100 club! (or the under 200 club depending on the rules!)
Cheers
Steve

I only wish I could Mark!

Still, at least I'm not the only person not to read all posts. My GM Atlas section post on Wren was only read by 39 people. Perhaps the other 609 forum members are trying to tell me something

Still even Bill Myerscough's post on Song Thrush was only read by 46 people. Bill's off the wall humour always brings a smile to my face. Perhaps one day he'll publish them all in a book Memoirs of a Forum Contributor!

You've done it again Mark. Started off another discussion on this thread and I've fallen into the trap of replying to it.

Good luck with the year listing. Only 4 months and 23 days to go.

Steve

Thanks Paul,

I certainly would not wish you to close down this thread on my account. The GM 200 club, fictitious or otherwise, is perfectly entitled to have its own thread.

Perhaps I didn't get my message across very clearly. I was just questioning why a discussion about the Manchester Tournament is taking place on this thread. I'm probably not the only person who doesn't have the time to read every post on this forum and had completely missed the discussion about the tournament, until someone drew it to my attention.

A lot of the tournament participants are not members of the 200 Club, so I just think it would be better in future for any discussion about the tournament to be held on a separate thread.

As for my GM list, I've never sat down and worked it out. That will have to wait until after the Atlas has finished. You know that I do most of my birding at Watergrove and around Rochdale which is why my borough and site lists are on the website.

Cheers

Steve

The tournament is perfect as it is... Equal to all!
As for the 200 club... The reason I don't twitch.

Steve, you are always welcome to post on this thread, as for been a member, I don't see your list, but I am sure its healthy, The club! been a complete figment of its members imagination, hold Mr McKerchar is the highest regard, he is an honorary member and has his own suite.

The Gm Website and it's boss are very, very safe, I hope he will remain in place for a long time, the idea regarding the tournament was really to generate a proper discussion on how to tweak it, adapt it, maybe change a couple of birds or add a few.

Ian had maintained a perfect tournament for us all, it was just a thought that perhaps we could see a new format for next year, what do you think yes or no.

Also reading the 200 club thread, it has caused offence in the past, which was not meant, always one for a laugh to lighten up things, but I am very happy if people would prefer this thread and the 200 club idea to be closed?

It was and is always meant to be a tongue in cheek, mickey take, and should be thought of as just that.

Now off to the library, with a single malt

Keep birding

Could the handi cap system include people who cant drive? any bird worth points found by someone who cant drive and cover as many sites of those who can drive be doubled?! - Id win easy! haha

Points are and indeed will be tweaked at the start of each new Tournament Riggers, as the status of species changes. I'm open to suggestions but sent privately please

No touchy subject at all Paul, nothing is and I love to discuss it, though perhaps some more personal discussion would be better as all these posts just makes it seem that I'm not prepared to listen (which is certainly not the case) and more than the pig-headed ogre which it seems I'm Increasingly thought of. The whole Tournament was carefully considered and planned but I'm certainly not saying it's perfect and other ideas might well enhance it. If I haven't got a perfectly reasonable explanation why it wouldn't work or enhance it any further then how could I refuse it?

Paul (Heaton ), penalising birders who are more active than others in the Tournament will surely decrease effort all round? Not just for the Tournament itself but more importantly for the benifit of the county's avifauna itself. The Tournament was and certainly does for some (info via pers comms), intend to increase county birding if anything, prove a point of what we can achieve in our little landlocked county.

At the end of the day, no one is in a better position than anyone else. We all have the same opportunities, chances to find those birds. Pennington Flash has very few birders, Audenshaw Reservoirs lacks coverage, Horwich Moors has all but a tiny handful of observers. Most county sites receive a relatively small amount of coverage, birds must quietly pass through unnoticed all the time, Elton last year proved what intensive coverage is capable of.

Paul (Wilson ), that is the whole point of the Tournament. Some birders might not be able to compete with others who dedicate more time and effort yet they could change their fortunes in one find. To me, if someone comes from nowhere to win it in the last month with a big find I'll be absolutely chuffed to bits for them

I think there should be a system where you get less points per bird when you find a large flock. For example:

For a Common Scoter (currently worth 2 points)

1-5 birds 2 points each,
6-10 birds 15 points,
11-20 birds 20 points,
21-50 birds 25 points,
50-100 birds 30 points,
101+ birds 35 points.

This would help to stop a single find of birds having such a big influence on the total. As it stands, one find of a large flock can be enough to win the tournament. I could go all the way to October without going birding at all, then find a flock of 200 Bewick's and have 4000 points! With the scoring system as above I'd only get 350 points (still a good haul).

Far from it Mr Thrope, in fact your dedication to local patch work, and time spent in the field, just goes to show how the tournament can benefit any birder. As Ian always says the next point are just around the corner.

Yet are we in for a three strikes and were out tournament, Ian,s ability to find points is becoming amazing, his steady plod around the county day in and day is truly monumental, he has within himself the power to get his name on the trophy for a third time.

This year tournament has been one of the best so far, 3 top birders battling it out in the field, Warfy,s list is impressive yet Ian matches him point for point, Rob your Godwit flock just goes to show how the competition can be turned on its head.

So can Ian pull off a third win, will Mr Thrope stay ahead, his name is penciled in and I am sure there are some more points out there for him, Will the legend that is Warfy pull out a flock of snow bunting this winter at Cutacre?

As for us lesser mortal we can only look on at the premiership birders.

So as for next year tournament, It cannot stay in the same format, in interest of fairness and fun. Perhaps a handicap scheme where points for the top birders are worth less.


Personally I would like to see a change in the species list, giving the top birders a real challenge.

As with all things change is good.

It,s a great competition, and fantastic to watch, but soul destroying to lesser mortals who don't stand a chance.

keep birding

Yep, l'll be there (as usual)...er l'll have a glass of white please Paul

Paul Heaton wrote:

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The talk in the club last night was all about the Manchester Birding Tournament, in what may be its last year

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The talk in the club last night was all about the Manchester Birding Tournament, in what may be its last year, its turning into a real cracker.

Two of Manchester's top birders are locked in battle in a fantastic competition,dedication, top field skills, and mega finds, Shore lark, Egrets, Marsh Harriers, these are birds any GM birder would be glad to see at any time, but Ian McKerchar and the Legend that Is Warfy, are finding them on their own patches.

You have to take you cap off to these two, and with Warfys luck perhaps the Sandgrouse from Finland will be his next find, as for Ian what will he come up with next, perhaps another Sabine's gull in a gull roost or will he pull some more caspian's out of his ever watchful eye.

Its making me dizzy keeping track of these two, as for last nights incident, scoping each other from there patches, DEDICATION these two have got buckets full...

Keep at it lads, that trophy will be well won this year.

As for the madman that is Mr Rigger's, doing well pal keep it up I know what you are going through, all the best buddy, nearly there, have a good autumn.

Keep Birding

Why carry a pager as well as a phone?
Surely everyone carries a phone with them to report all the rare birds they find in order for it to be "paged" to people in the first place?

Ian McKerchar wrote:

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Can't say too much as it'll spoil the article

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Don`t leave the article too long pal, in case computers become obsolete......

Ian McKerchar wrote:

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pagers are coming to the end of their life anyway.

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If this is so, then why did RBA deem it necessary to launch (with much fanfare) their new X3 Pager only last year ?

Just a query, (and not so as to cause inter-pager/phone rivalry )

Many thanks Ian, however as you know I am not one for technology, but you may be onto something here, as I do like to save money, the price of the pager against the phone is difficult to pin down, and as far as I know phone coverage on St Agnes, Isles of Scilly, is still poor, someone said they are also poor at Spurn?

Still giving me something to do, will talk to some teenager at carphone warehouse today on the subject.

Looking forward to all your new reviews, keep at it.



-- Edited by Paul Heaton on Tuesday 27th of July 2010 07:47:37 AM

Ian;s comment regarding pagers are dead, had got the members talking, and perhaps we will have to update ourselves.

I am sure Ian will produce an excellent article re the new Smartie phones but what are the thoughts re pagers and phones, I have considered sending my pager back, as I cannot remember the last time it made me leg it for a bird.


I also noted the complete demise of the CB radio on the Scilles, perhaps the pager is going the same way........

But surely the pager is still cheaper?


Keep birding