A Wild Goose Chase (Of Sorts)

Having missed out on seeing Tundra Bean Geese on our trip to Suffolk and on my visit to Slimbridge I decided to give myself a pre-Christmas treat on Tuesday 22nd December and took a trip to Burnham On-Sea in Somerset where a Tundra Bean Goose has appeared with 2 juvenile Russian White-fronted Geese at a local park.

On arriving at Apex Park in Burnham I walked down to the lake and there they were, standing around on the concrete slipway in the company of 6 Greylag Geese.

Russian White-fronted, Tundra Bean and Greylag Geese

Tundra Bean Goose

Russian White-fronted Goose

Incredibly tame and approachable down to a few feet as they came to feed on bread and grain being thrown to them by passers by, I spent a very enjoyable hour watching them in what was a rather plastic fantastic type moment.

Tundra Bean Goose

Tundra Bean Goose 

Tundra Bean Goose 

Tundra Bean Goose 

Tundra Bean Goose 

Presumably they are wild birds that have become lost from their parent flock and have adopted the feral Greylag Geese as their new cohort, learning their feral ways and lack of fear of humans but an absolute delight to see so close to.

Tundra Bean Goose 

Russian White-fronted Goose

Tundra Bean Goose 

Tundra Bean Goose 

Tundra Bean and Russian White-fronted Geese 

Russian White-fronted and Greylag Goose

They arrived at the beginning of November, much earlier than the influx of both Tundra Bean Geese and Russian White-fronted Geese into the UK at the end of November and it will be interesting to see what happens to them in the spring - will they migrate back east or over summer here and if they migrate will they return next winter? Or are they just plastic fantastic? 

Tundra Bean Goose 

Having seen the geese so well and so easily I decided to head back towards Plymouth and stop off at Exwick for another torture session with the elusive and skulky Dusky Warbler still present by the River Exe. I didn't see the bird although I did have a very brief view of a small warbler flicking its wings deep down in the undergrowth and appearing to have a long and distinct eye stripe before it disappeared never to be seen again. At least 3 Chiffchaffs showed better in the tangled branches including a pale looking Siberian type along with Blue, Great and Long-tailed Tits.

2 Little Grebes, 2 Moorhen, a Grey Wagtail, 3 Stock Dove, a Redwing and 5 Canada Geese were also noted but the highlight was a Dipper flying downstream low over the water of a very swollen River Exe.

A nice trip despite being Dusky Warbler-less again and with Brent Geese seen along the River Exe at Starcross a five goose day out as well.

Tundra Bean Goose, Braunton Marsh

Saturday 17th February and a sunny and surprisingly mild day saw me heading off to Braunton Marsh in North Devon to look for a tundra bean goose that has been seen there for a few days now. I needed to get out for the day to clear my head and think about all the things going on in life and the trip seemed like it would be a good distraction. I caught the train to Exeter and then the branch line train to Barnstaple, the last branch line in Devon and Cornwall that I have not travelled on before, and then the bus to Braunton.

The journey went smoothly and along the way I managed some good sightings - fulmars at Teignmouth, pintails on the River Exe and a fox near Totnes on the train to Exeter, and a dipper, goosanders and stock doves on the scenic train journey to Barnstaple.

Arriving off the bus at Braunton high street I walked out to the nearby marshes and the fields were very waterlogged with some of the roads flooded too and very busy with lots of cars and cyclists on the tiny country lanes. There were plenty of birds around in the fields and hedgerows - good numbers of linnets, chaffinches, stock doves, jackdaws and skylarks along with greenfinch, goldfinch, blue tit, great tit, starling, carrion crow and woodpigeon.

I eventually arrived at the Sandy Lane car park and quickly found the tundra bean goose feeding in the fields with 10 mute swans, unfortunately distant and with heat hazy views into the sunlight but good to see none the less, only my third tundra bean goose after 2 distant sightings of one at Slimbridge in 2008 and 2013.

It spent short periods feeding on the grass with the swans before settling down for longer periods on the ground to rest and preen when it was often obscured by grassy tussocks - its dark head and neck, dark bill with orange nail and orange legs were all seen well despite the less than ideal viewing conditions.

 Tundra Bean Goose with Mute Swans - my "zoomed in" effort

Tundra Bean Goose - courtesy of DBWPS Website

While watching the goose I managed a few other good sightings - 3 chiffchaffs were flitting about in the hedgerow feeding on insects with a goldcrest, long tailed tits and a brief view of a firecrest; a Cettis warbler and a water rail were heard calling in the reeds along a ditch; a male kestrel regularly hovered overhead despite the attentions of mobbing jackdaws; 2 pairs of stonechats fed from the tops of sedges, seeming to tolerate each others close proximity; 20+ teal were spooked from a ditch and flew off across the fields; and a weasel dashed across the path, looking quite small and lacking a black tip to the tail.

 Chiffchaff

Kestrel

Heading back to Plymouth and the train journey was again productive - more goosanders and stock doves from Barnstaple to Exeter, red breasted mergansers, brent geese, bar tailed godwits, teal, wigeon and greenshank along the River Exe, 6 avocets and a kingfisher along the River Teign and goosanders near Totnes - a nice day out and very restorative.