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| Pied Wagtail - Fornham St Martin - December 2020 |
News of 4 White-fronts just a mile from the house, as the goose flies, was tantalizing. Could they even fly over the house? Would they still be there when I wasn't at work? They would the first wild grey goose to grace house list. A questionable Pink-foot has come dangerously close before, but never actually flown through the required airspace. After a morning run and facing down a day of household chores I drove 'the long way' to ASDA, enjoying an hour looking at a dirty field containing; 102 Canada Geese, 4 White-fronted Geese, 2 Egyptian Geese, 1 Greylag, 1 spectacular Greylag x Canada hybrid, 20 Fieldfare, 2 Common Gull, 10 Pied Wagtail and 1 Grey Wagtail. I've had a worse haul on a rainy Saturday 1 mile from the house!
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| White-fronted Geese - Fornham St Martin - December 2020 |
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| White-fronted Geese - Fornham St Martin - December 2020 |
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| Grey Wagtail - Fornham St Martin - December 2020 |
I am 'in a bubble' with friend Mal who is recovering from a broken back, the fact that he is already out car birding is testament to the Dove Step mindset all team members exhibit. NOBODY DOES IT LIKE DOVE STEP.
Our car-birding over the last few weeks has always delivered something of note; Tree Sparrows, Peregrine, Brambling, Grey Partridge, White-fronted Geese and today we seemed to reach peak awesome. A wild swan chase through the fens wasn't the best start, however, old faithful spot Cowle's Drove delivered the goods. We paused to check a herd of Mutes wasn't harboring any Whoopers, then noticed the same field contained 8 White-fronted Geese! With the 4 up the road at Fornham, another 42 in Blackbourne Valley and these on the Suffolk border I wonder how many there are in West Suffolk and the region at the moment?
It was magic getting a flock on a self found basis, just the garden tick to tidy up now...
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| White-fronted Geese - Cowle's Drove - December 2020 |
As we were checking an extremely distant herd of swans, two took flight and flew directly over the White-fronts and landed much closer - a highly elite scene for any Sunday birder...
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| White-fronted Geese and Whooper Swans - Cowle's Drove - December 2020 |
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White-fronted Geese and Whooper Swans - Cowle's Drove - December 2020
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Satisfied that we had achieved our wild swan target, with bonus self-found White-fronts, Great White Egrets and Marsh Harriers we made for home. The rain was becoming more persistent we were pleased with our sightings. Then I noticed, a raptor getting hassle from two crows, I almost dismissed it as another harrier before realizing it was a Short-eared Owl. Birding magic in the raw...
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Short-eared Owl - Cowle's Drove - December 2020
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Short-eared Owl - Cowle's Drove - December 2020
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