Saturday 7 January 2012

Less is more

I am becoming a `Twitcher`! There, I`ve said it.

There has been a Lesser White-fronted goose at Buckenham Marshes RSPB in Norfolk for the past few weeks and I have stopped myself from going to see it, that was, until yesterday, when I made up my mind to go and see this rare goose.

I was up at silly o`clock and got to Buckenham at 7.30am just as the sun was coming up. A flock of feral Barnacle Geese was seen and also a rather large flock of European White-fronted Geese, but no Lesser White-front. This goose has been seen hanging around with Taiga Bean Geese and as yet this flock had not shown up. I started to walk along the track towards the area where my friend Chris Orders had seen the goose earlier in the week and arrived just as the Taiga Beans flew in. They were extremely distant, to say the least, but I started patiently scanning. The wind started blowing, knocking my scope and tripod over twice, making it very difficult to focus, but I got my first view of a Lesser White-fronted Goose! The view was distant and shaky, but obvious with the birds large white blaze on its head, but too far for any photos. The photo below has been kindly given to me by Chris Orders, just to give you a taster.


The Lesser White-fronted Goose is a goose that has courted controversy over the years, with the last accepted truly wild bird being seen at Slimbridge in 2003. Subsequent birds seen have been assumed to be birds that have escaped from collections and so haven`t counted. The particular individual at Buckenham was seen to arrive with Taiga Bean Geese, a known `carrier` of Lesser White-fronts and so has been accepted as being of truly wild origin.

This goose is becoming truly rare in Europe, a reintroduction has taken place in Fenno-Scandia, but as yet this has proved unsuccessful. The goose at Buckenham Marshes may be the last one of its kind ever to grace the shores of the U.K., a sobering thought.

18 comments:

  1. Well, I, for one, am glad for your "Twitcher" status, for I get the benefit of your finds without getting up at silly o'clock (though, I'll agree, there really is nothing like the real thing, even if too far away for a photo).

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  2. Twitcher, um, I don't mind. The Taiga Bean Goose is beautiful.

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  3. I guess you had to admit to it eventually John. {:)

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  4. HI John...I don't recall every seeing silly on my clocks, but I am assuming that it is quite early : }}
    I hope you get another change to see it...and have a photo of your own!!
    Grace

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  5. Hi,John,found your blog via Rob's Kent Birding Adventures site.I really enjoyed reading it.If you get a moment perhaps you might like to take a quick look at my blog, The Broadstairs Birder. With All Best Wishes Phil Parker

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  6. I confess to the odd twitch myself.

    A drive out of town to see Waxwings last winter and couple of Black-winged Stilts on my local reserve a few years ago couldn't be missed.

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  7. Hi Susan,
    Thank you, I am not a fully fledged Twitcher though, I will only drive 200 miles on a round trip, I have to put a limit on it somewhere!
    J

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  8. Hi Bob,
    Bean Geese are nice looking birds, just wish they had bought the Lesser White-front a bit closer!
    J

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  9. Hi Roy,
    I know, I have been deluding myself for ages!
    J

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  10. Hi Grace,
    Yes, that is very early. Don`t think I will go again soon, bit far and I don`t like putting too much pollution into the atmosphere, I will just have to make it up by planting a few trees! ;)
    J

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  11. Hi Phil,
    Thank you very much for your visit and your `Follow`. I have just paid a quick visit to your site, but will be back!
    J

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  12. Hi Andrew,
    Birds like the two you mentioned are special birds and the odd `treat` now and then can`t hurt too much, can it?!
    J

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  13. Congratulations on the 'twitch' (if that's the right word), John.

    For a moment I thought I could say you'd been on a wild goose chase, but now I can't.

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  14. Hi Rob,
    Thank you. Yes, for a while it felt like a wild goose chase, but it turned out okay in the end!
    J

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  15. John: only 200 miles? Jeez, what does it take to be a full-fledged twitcher (you don't need to answer that, I can well imagine)?

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  16. Well done on finding the LWF, I've seen a couple in Kent, many years ago but their status has become very blurred as you say. Let's hope they don't disappear altogether.

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  17. Hi Susan,
    I know of people driving from one end of the country to the other, chartering boats and even planes to get to see a bird, these are the hard-core `Twitchers`!
    J

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  18. Hi Alan,
    Thank you. Yes, I don`t know how a birds status is agreed upon, but the LWF is a bird cloaked in controversy! I do hope that the re-introduction scheme becomes successful.
    J

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