Geese Galore!

There was nothing spectacular around in January in the local area other than a rarity with dodgy credentials, more of which later. On the 10th, I paid a visit to the local saltmarsh and accidentally flush a couple of Jack Snipe, one of which I caught on camera – no mean feat. I've recorded this species a number of times here , and it seems to be a regular haunt for them. Anyway, my main focus was geese in January, understandably, and I have to remind myself sometimes that I’m actually quite lucky to have so many on my doorstep.

A Ross’s Goose "of unknown origin" was spotted on the 18th amongst Canada and Greylag Geese, and with the site just being a stone’s throw away, I couldn’t resist. When I arrived, there was also a good flock of Pink-footed Geese nearby, and I did wonder whether this was the carrier flock which could tip the balance for the doubters out there. (It also had no 'bling' and a full set of flight feathers; it also seemed nervous and had no problem flying either.) I returned on the 24th (and 1st February) and it was still there, and I got some nice shots on the first two dates, firstly in a field and then on the ponds nearby. It will be a shame if it's rejected based purely on the fact that it prefers the company of feral geese.

And on the same day, I pulled over just before I got home, scanned the local Pink-feet and noticed a couple of birds with orange legs and black belly-markings – Russian White-fronted Geese. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get close to them, but I managed a couple of record shots.

A week later, on 24th January, I scanned the same field again hoping to find the White-fronts but found something even better - Tundra Bean Goose.

Not my first here, of course (I’ve even picked one out from the bedroom window before – in the very same field), but always a nice bird to see – a proper birder’s bird, being tough to pick out amongst its very similar cousins.

This bird, on closer inspection, appeared noticeably larger than the nearby Pink-feet (my experience of this species is that it is of similar size, perhaps only slightly larger) and the bill also seem rather long and with a flat, horizontal lower edge to the lower mandible (previous Tundras I’ve seen have a angled/bulging lower edge). Was this a Taiga Bean Goose? (I guessed probably not, but I’ll do some further research and seek further advice.)

I spent much of the following weekend searching for geese but found nothing unusual – other than the long-staying Ross’s.