Friday 12 October 2012

Better

Things improved on the patch overnight, but the lack of rain meant that there wasn't the deluge of birds that there could have been. The totals for the day were - 1 Brent Goose, 11 Barnacle Geese (including 3 hybrid young - more on that lower down the page), 1 Bonxie, 1 Greenfinch, 99 Rewing, 5 Wheatear, 6 Goldcrest, 6 Song Thrush, 45 Blackbirds and finally a patch tick - a Little Bunting around Ness Engineering.
Brent Goose
 The Hybrid Geese - Although superficially resembling Barnacle Geese, the three young birds initially stood out from the flock due to their smaller size, on closer inspection I noted that they lacked the white forehead of Barnacles and had rather Canada Goose looking head patterning, they also had a very faint brown wash to the flanks. A little research online when I got home and it seems that they were most likely Small Canada Goose x Barnacle Goose hybrids back-crossed with Barnacle Goose, a few photos that seem pretty close to these birds can be found here.
Barnacle Geese, adult and hybrids

No comments: