Grey Surprise

The morning started grey, drizzly and breezy - one of those mornings when optimism for finding birds and taking photographs doesn’t come easily. But by 11am when the sun finally broke through the clouds the morning hadn’t been too bad after all, and for readers who stay the course there are a few pictures of an uncommon grey goose for these parts. 

At Conder Green I watched 5 Little Grebe fishing the pools, taking the tiny minnows the Kingfishers and Cormorants have been after lately. No sign of a blue streak though, and just one Cormorant and 8 Teal. There rest of the usual stuff proved pretty sparse with just 1 Common Sandpiper, 1 Greenshank, 1 Oystercatcher, 2 Curlew and 2 Spotted Redshank, all enlivened by 11 Snipe plus a single Ruff with head tucked in, roosting and hiding amongst the 20 or so Redshank in the creek. 

I drove through drizzle up to Knott End where hopefully the 1015 tide might bring in a few goodies and a change of weather. I think I missed the bulk of the Oystercatchers heading up river to roost as there were only some 140 left on the incoming tide, other waders 4 Bar-tailed Godwit, 15 Ringed Plover, 22 Redshank, 2 Turnstone, 2 Lapwing, 10 Curlew and 7 Grey Plover. 

Also on the incoming tideline were 9 Eider, 8 Cormorant and a single Grey Heron. The heron was having a bad day, being chased from the shore by a Lesser Black-backed Gull. 

Grey Heron and Lesser Black-backed Gull

The poor overnight weather and gloom of the morning had brought lots of terns to the shore where they roosted in between the "dreads" - 450 Sandwich Tern plus several Common Tern. 

Sandwich Terns

Sandwich Terns

Along the river was a Brent Goose, preening almost continually as it floated downstream. I thought maybe it had got slightly oiled to be cleaning itself up so systematically, but eventually it came ashore and fed a little before passers-by caused the bird to drift out to the channel again. Brent (or Brant) Geese are fairly scarce around here and it is quite unusual to get such good views and pictures from what is normally a very wary species, especially when they mix with winter Pink-footed Geese.

Brent Goose

Brent Goose

Brent Goose

Brent Goose

From Wiki.

"Brent (or Brant) Goose is divided three subspecies:

• Dark-bellied Brent Goose Branta bernicla bernicla 
• Pale-bellied Brent Goose Branta bernicla hrota (sometimes also known as Light-bellied Brant Goose in Europe, and Atlantic Brant in North America) 
• Black Brant Branta bernicla nigricans (sometimes also known as the Pacific Brant in North America) 

 Some DNA evidence suggests that these forms are genetically distinct; while a split into three separate species has been proposed, it is not widely accepted, with other evidence upholding their maintenance as a single species.

The body of the dark-bellied form is fairly uniformly dark grey-brown all over, the flanks and belly not significantly paler than the back. The head and neck are black, with a small white patch on either side of the neck. It breeds on the Arctic coasts of central and western Siberia and winters in western Europe, with over half the population in southern England, the rest between northern Germany and northern France.

The Pale-bellied Brent Goose appears blackish-brown and light grey in colour. The body is different shades of grey-brown all over, the flanks and belly are significantly paler than the back and present a marked contrast. The head and neck are black, with a small white patch on either side of the neck. It breeds in Franz Josef Land, Svalbard, Greenland and northeastern Canada, wintering in Denmark, northeast England, Ireland and the Atlantic coast of the U.S. from Maine to Georgia."

More birds and sunny days from Another Bird Blog soon. Stay posted.