My attention was drawn to the geese as, several times, I heard a high pitched call somewhat reminiscent of White-fronted Goose. The source of this exciteable squeaky yelp was the teeny Cackling Goose that Ben had also seen. The whole complex of small and large Canada's is looking at a potential double figure species split with hundreds of proposed sub-species, but in old money I think this is the Richardson's Canada Goose that has been knocking around the area for over 10 years now and used to be resident at the Maltings. I used to divert a walk in town to see this bird back then and certainly seeing it in a less urbanised setting has not taken anything away from the appeal of this little bird.
A celebration of birding and natural history, generally within a 10 mile radius of Ely Cathedral, Cambridgeshire, UK. It would be great if you wanted to share your Ely 10 birding news, experiences, photos, art and video through this blog. Please contact hairyfolkster@gmail.com with your post or to join the authorship, I'll get you on the list quicker than a fly over Alpine Swift.
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Friday, 2 January 2015
Goose chasing
Returning to the Fen after the Yuletide shenanigans I decided to have a look for the Bean Geese in the Fortrey Hall/Witcham Gravel area. There were some sizeable Swan flocks, peppered with Canada's and as I was leaving I caught 5 grey geese sneaking into a far field. Dark necked and grey/blue backed these Pink-footed Geese demanded a closer view. Through some stalking that the old schoolers would have been proud of I got close to the Swans and the geese beyond. Having afforded some enigmatic views of the wild geese, I pondered upon my next move. The wind howled, the sky was low and leaden and I decided on a safari rather than a stake out to try and relocate the Beans. There wasn't the large numbers of Swans I was expecting in the fields to the east of the Washes, so my goose chase became pretty futile. I had a look for the Rough-legged Buzzard around Lady Fen and saw a few Buzzards including the pale bird which several birders unfortunately believed to be the RLB. On the way home I hoped to see a New Year Garganey on the settling beds, lots of duck on the whipped up water and a good show of Marsh Harrier in the bluster but no southern duck.
My attention was drawn to the geese as, several times, I heard a high pitched call somewhat reminiscent of White-fronted Goose. The source of this exciteable squeaky yelp was the teeny Cackling Goose that Ben had also seen. The whole complex of small and large Canada's is looking at a potential double figure species split with hundreds of proposed sub-species, but in old money I think this is the Richardson's Canada Goose that has been knocking around the area for over 10 years now and used to be resident at the Maltings. I used to divert a walk in town to see this bird back then and certainly seeing it in a less urbanised setting has not taken anything away from the appeal of this little bird.
My attention was drawn to the geese as, several times, I heard a high pitched call somewhat reminiscent of White-fronted Goose. The source of this exciteable squeaky yelp was the teeny Cackling Goose that Ben had also seen. The whole complex of small and large Canada's is looking at a potential double figure species split with hundreds of proposed sub-species, but in old money I think this is the Richardson's Canada Goose that has been knocking around the area for over 10 years now and used to be resident at the Maltings. I used to divert a walk in town to see this bird back then and certainly seeing it in a less urbanised setting has not taken anything away from the appeal of this little bird.