Late last year I missed the Tundra Bean Geese that had been seen at Baston and Langtoft gravel pits, a `dip` that cost me my 170th species for my local patch year list. However, I received a call yesterday from Mike Weedon to tell me that 4 Tundra Bean Geese had again been seen by Josh Jones at these pits and were presumably the same birds as before Christmas. The problem with these birds was that they were on private land and could not be viewed from public areas. Today Mike re-found them on a pit close to the village of Langtoft which could be viewed and so, after his kind phone-call I raced down there to get a view. The birds were present with a mixed flock of Canada and Greylag Geese, with a couple of European White-fronted Geese present as well and has lifted my 2012 patch list to 91 species.
This goose is split into 2 sub-species, the Taiga and Tundra and arrives in Britain in September, with 450 individuals spending the winter here. The majority of these are found in Norfolk, indeed when I went to Buckenham Marshes the other day I saw a large flock of Bean Geese, but these were of the sub-species Taiga or fabilis. In the PBC area, however they are quite a scarce bird, hence the `mad dash` to see them!
