From Russia with Love

European White-fronted Goose

 Today I had a couple of visits to Flamborough, the first to South Landing with my kids as we went for a walk. The aim for me was to add the common woodland species whilst for my eldest Isabelle it was all about her first steps in birding as she ticked away with gay abandon. Her spot of a Treecreeper was handy although these are reasonably common. We just saw the commoner species although a couple of Rock Pipits were a bonus. We also had two Curlew over the wood and a few Turnstones on the beach. After a trip to the living seas centre so the girls could get their colouring fix we returned home. I was granted a pass for the afternoon and made for Thornwick Bay and North Landing.

Pink-footed Goose

First off I headed to Thornwick Pools where a Song Thrush was in sub song. On the pools there were a few Teal and Moorhen plus a single Coot. I decided to head round to North Marsh before I lost too much sun. A Stonechat at the seaward side of Holmes Gut was a useful addition but there were no Meadow Pipits or Skylarks. Before I reached North Marsh after a somewhat muddy trek round I bumped into the feral geese. This was what I was hoping for a quick search through them revealed six European White-fronted Geese plus a single Pink-footed Goose. These were much wanted PWC ticks and I was particularly happy with the White-fronts. I moved onto North Marsh to see if anything else was present.

White-fronted Geese amongst Greylags

After adding Peregrine and Grey Heron on my approach, both easy enough here but enjoyable to catch up with. A few Wigeon, Mallard and a flock of Teal were present but nothing rarer. A helicopter went over flushing the geese and the flock flew into the field north of North Marsh. I got a few pictures before a small plane came in and flushed just the White-fronts, which had increased in number ot eight, towards the village where they put down, seperate to the goose flock whilst the Pink-foot stayed put. I headed back, pleased with my endeavours and I now move onto 47 species and 54 points for Patchwork Challenge 2017.

White-fronted Goose

Last week I was down in Somerset doing wader surveys on the River Parrett. Whilst I cant post details of that I did manage to get the year list away with highlights such as Merlin, Marsh Harrier and best of all a couple of flyover Waxwings which were a survey tick for me.

White-fronted Goose

The final view.