Bean Counting

Bean goose

Saturday saw a huge increase in the number of geese in the Aldcliffe area. All the birds were grazing in the fields to the east of the cycle path and most of them were relatively easy to scan through. I estimated there to be around 3,500 pink-footed geese, c600 greylags and the 60 or so 'resident' Canada geese.
I scanned through the pinkfeet in search of ringed birds, plus any other species.
I only found one collared goose (LCT) - it'll be interesting to see where else this bird has been seen.
Searching through a mass of feeding pinkfeet my eyes were dazzled by a pair of bright orange legs, and within seconds the distinctive head of a bean goose loomed into view.

Bean goose

Barely annual in North Lancashire, bean geese are always a treat to find in the Aldcliffe area.
Of course, the worst thing about finding a bean goose is having to figure which bloody type it is; fabalis (taiga) or rossicus (tundra).
The latter is the most likely in our area, but both can occur.
This particular bird didn't strike me immediately as any one in particular, but now that I've had chance to look at the cruddy pics I got I'm definitely leaning toward rossicus.
Anyhoo, here are those same cruddy dodgi-scoped shots so please feel free to weigh in with any comments.
Incidentally, I had a look on Sunday afternoon and all the pinkfeet had cleared out.

Common snipe

The other minor highlights from Saturday included 6 dunlin on the Flood (22 there on Sunday) plus fields filled with lapwing, curlew and golden plovers. Snipe were present at the Wildfowlers' Pools, Flood (pictured), Darter Pool and Freeman's Pools.
I returned to the area later in the day where the barn owl once again made an appearance right on cue.

 

The Week In Review

On Tuesday I had a quick cycle around the main Aldcliffe locations to see what things were doing in the sub-zero frosty, sunny parish. Well, it was going to be a quick cycle until I got a puncture at Stodday which of course resulted in a leisurely stroll back along the path to Freeman's Wood and Pools.

Snowy Lake District mountains loom over Aldcliffe Marsh

The fields were attracting good numbers of black-headed and a few common gulls plus lots of waders including impressive numbers of lapwing and golden plover. Mixed in were curlew, redshank, dunlin and even 5 knot - not a bird I expect to see in the Aldcliffe area all that often, never mind feeding in fields.
A small flock of 8 twite were near the walled meadow but they were very flighty and unfortunately I couldn't see if any were colour-ringed.
Otherwise, it was pretty much business as usual with the expected wildfowl species, egrets, common buzzard, sparrowhawk and what-not. There were 5 common snipe roosting at the Wildfowlers' Pools.

In the late afternoon I returned to the Pools in search of the barn owl and once again it appeared just before 5pm. I went again on Wednesday (trying to figure out roughly where its roost might be) and I got great point-blank views, but better still picked up a woodcock - it flew in from Freeman's Wood over the pools and across the river, presumably to feed on the defunct tip.

Jon

Barn Stormin'

Freeman's Pools at dusk

I've been determined to go down to Freeman's Pools on a reasonably fine late afternoon with the hope of seeing what, if any, owls might be hunting around the area.
I've heard from several dog walkers that barn owls have been showing fairly regularly and after that brilliant spell back in early 2009 when we had barns, short-eared and long-eared owls all present it was definitely got to be worth a good look.
I also wanted to see if any woodcock were flying in from Freeman's Wood to feed at the pools, as they often have in winters past.
As it happens, I got down there a little too early for owl-action and so happily checked the Wildfowlers' Pools, the Flood and everything in between.

The Aldcliffe drumlins viewed from the Flood

There were still quite a few pinkfeet up on the drumlins, but they were feeding low in the field and many were obscured by the hedges, so an accurate count wasn't possible.
Other wildfowl in and around the Aldcliffe area included the usual mute swans, shelduck, mallard and teal plus good numbers of coot and the large numbers of moorhen.
I have noticed that the number of adults to 1st year moorhens suggests that 2012 was a very productive breeding season. I don't know what numbers are like at Leighton Moss and elsewhere, but there are at least 50 moorhens on the Aldcliffe patch at the moment.

Moorhens, moorhens everywhere...

I had the good fortune to bump into Ray Hobbs at the parking area, who was in search of snipe for his year-list. We had a good natter, but after a while I had to scarper as the light was starting to fade and I had owls on my mind.
I headed up along the track to Marsh Point and started scanning over the western edge of Freeman's Pools - traditionally good owl habitat.
Within a few minutes a barn owl dutifully appeared as it hunted over the rough ground, giving pretty decent if somewhat distant views. I continued to check around the pools for signs of any other species but I couldn't locate any other owls, and I also dipped on woodcock.
A merlin dashed through in the fading light, chasing a lapwing which managed to escape its speedy pursuer. 

Jon