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.
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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.
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Barnacle Geese, adult and hybrids |
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