Tuesday 15 November 2011

Full Frontal

Dan here.

It was a bit of a goosefest this morning, with four adult european white-fronted geese initially on Heaton Marsh-- reassuringly aloof from the greylag hordes. A little disappointingly, they decamped to mingle with a motley crew of greylags and Canadas on Aldcliffe Marsh.

Then I was surprised to find 7 Greenland white-fronted geese at the southern end of the marsh. These much more handsome birds were also all adult.... and also very much at ease with the feral honkers (feeding with them, bathing in the river with them-- even playing cards with them).

Mind you, there were at least a hundred more greylags than usual today, so maybe even they weren't all feral after all.

A skein of 58 pink-footed geese circled over the marsh for a while, before continuing east.

In passerine news, 5 rock pipits were at Stodday sewage works and the recently-harvested maize fields had attracted over 70 chaffinches, six bullfinches, (two sparrowhawks) and a few tree sparrows, mipits and reed buntings.

A lesser redpoll was at the Willow Lane end of Freeman'sWood. A third goldeneye is now at Freeman's Pools.

DH.

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