Swan Goose: After spending almost a week indoors fighting off a horrible cold I was glad to get out and about this Saturday afternoon.
I thought I would take it easy and go somewhere that provides a nice warm hide, a place to grab some hot drinks and cake and a place with a bean goose also on the menu. So I shot over to Martin Mere WWT.
Black-tailed Godwit: Nice also to see the bizarre looking swan goose that wasn't shy and came right up to the waters edge before heading off with a gaggle of greylag geese.
This swan goose is considered as a feral bird, reading up on this species I have leaned that there are some feral breeding swan geese in Germany and the closest potentially wild bird record is nearly 4000 miles away!!
Swan geese can be found in Mongolia and they winter in SE China.
There were a few black-tailed godwits foraging around the rocky banks of the main mere.
This pair regularly broke out in fighting, squawking, flapping and pecking at each other it was fascinating to watch.
And look closer, I had several shots were the birds held each others bill and even appeared to peck inside the opponents bill. Both of them were trying to pull out each others feathers..
Aggressive behaviour!!
Tundra Bean Goose: The Bean Goose was still present feeding around the main mere loafing around with a small flock of pink feet's.
Turndra's are a stockier bird than the common pink-footed goose Turndra's appear darker and browner in appearance. But its their combination of orange legs and orange in the bill that are the main ID features.
These images show a really nice comparison between the two geese and their bills colouration.
There were also 2 Mediterranean gulls on the main mere within the large black-headed gull flock. I also had a lovely marsh harrier flyby, 60ish ruff and three common snipe. No sign of the tawny owl n its box.
Common Snipe: Really enjoyable afternoon out, nice hot drink and some more cold & flu tablets and I will be back to my normal self.
