Richardson's Cackling Goose: Well my day just got that bit more interesting. After a very early and cold start, taking a short walk to Lightshaw Flash to see the Richardson's goose I got news that it had relocated to Pennington Flash.
Once I got home from the morning walk I warmed up with a hot cup of tea and some breakfast then settled in for an afternoon of entertaining the baby.
When news came through on BirdGuides that the bird had been spotted at pennington flash I didn't give it a moments thought, pleased that I was it more locally earlier this morning
I was soon told that the bird was coming to seed in the car park with the Canada geese. Well whatever this birds real origins are and with its behaviour now making it even more likely that its plastic I don't think I will get an opportunity to see one so close up outside of a zoo!
So not wanting to miss a good photo opportunity, I packed my gear, the baby and Dawn and we headed over to our local Pennington Flash.
Penny was typically busy, but you can't really blame anyone for coming to use such a great public amenity even during this pandemic, there is no law against it or restrictions that forbid folk from going to a park. Sure, you can question the suitability of dozends on people going to one place for an outdoor walk, but firstly you'll be a hypocrite and secondly it's down to an effective government to lay out strong and sensible rules.
The bird was pointed out me by a lovely bloke called Dave, as it came out of the water to feed on a concrete ramp opposite the children play area, a little further down from the main car park.
The bird was clearly more jumpy and shy then the much larger Canada geese although it didn't mind come right out of the water at almost arms length to feed on the seeds that families were buying to feed to the ducks and swans.
Richardson's really are little dinky things once you see then standing side by side with a giant Canada they really stand out like a sore-thumb. its Richardson's (
hutchinsii) are known to be the smallest of the palse vagrant forms,
They have a small bill and a short neck, thick and is similar in size to a Brent Goose. They breed in Arctic Canada and winter on the Gulf coast of Texas and Mexico
The bird was often pushed off the seed by the bigger geese and swans and moved out onto the water before coming back once the coast was clear. This image below shows how diddy the birc really it's almost mallard size when compared side by side.
Regardless of the birds status and now its behaviour it great to see a nice local bird during a week of staying at home.
I was soon told that the bird was coming to seed in the car park with the Canada geese. Well whatever this birds real origins are and with its behaviour now making it even more likely that its plastic I don't think I will get an opportunity to see one so close up outside of a zoo!
