Bean Geese & Canaries on Norwich day trip

 Carrow Road - Destination of woe

 Distant geese

 Rather closer Wigeon

 Wigeon

 Snapped by my youngest

That's quite enough

There really wasn't any need to gloat

The New year football fixtures took us to Norwich City on Saturday to see our beloved Saints. Whilst the football matched the weather, truly shocking 1-0 loss,  I did manage to see a number of good species. 

We saw two Red Kites when going through Northampton and we took advantage of the location to visit Buckenham Mashes. Located 8 miles south of the football ground it was an ideal place to head with the Taiga Bean Geese as the speciality. 

After crossing the railway line I was soon scanning for the Taiga Been Geese. I did locate a flock of 30+ White-fronted Geese and 50+ Pink-footed Geese which are apparently unusual at the site (according to local birder ?) but the long grass and poor light made viewing difficult and photography impossible. This didn't stop my youngest taking a few snaps to amuse himself. Bean Geese were clearly not his cup of tea. 

There were not as many Wigeon from when I visited previously however I found there were a large number on the canal rather than the meadows. When reaching the view point (that is slightly raised) it was perfect to scan again and after a great deal of searching I found two Beans with the White fronts in the long grass. The Taiga's are bigger birds, have longer dark necks and more colour  that makes them stand out from the white-fronts & pinkies. Apparently the marsh used to host flocks of 100+ in 1930's however this years count has only been around 20.

Other sightings included two Marsh Harrier, Peregrine, a dodgy Snow Goose, many Lapwing, two Shelduck and 30 Barnacle Geese.

Taiga Bean & Hooded Crow star in Slimbridge Twitch

 Black-tailed Godwits

 Mandarins

 Taiga Bean Geese

 Hooded Crow

 Hooded Crow

Kingfisher

Despite a full day in Cambridgeshire the day before and a bad forecast the draw of super birds at Slimbridge made it another early start. On the way to picking up @midlandbirder in Stourport I stopped in Shenstone to locate a couple of Corn Bunting. As I approached Stourport, Craig text me to drive through to the field gate as two of the local Mandarin were sitting up on a tree by the river.

Once arriving at Slimbridge we headed straight to the Holden Tower to locate the two Taiga Bean Geese. A seriously rare bird in these parts. They are normally only ever seen in small numbers in Norfolk. The birds were close enough to enable us to get some excellent views. Other notable sightings were 5 Little Egret, 14+6 Golden Plover, 2 Peregrines, Lapwings, Oystercatchers, Pintail and Skylark. 

It was then down to the Kingfisher & Ziess Hide to locate the Hooded Crow. After about 30 minutes I saw the Crow land in the field. I'd never seen one of these birds before and I  was struck with how striking he was. Whilst in the Kingfisher hide we observed a pair of Kingfisher sat outside the nest they were excavating. It was brilliant to watch the Kingfisher at close quarters, normally I only see these birds flying fast. Upon leaving the hide a Swallow past over head - a sure sign that summers round the corner.