Winter Mission Accomplished!

On the 27^th January, with an early finish from college, I decided to have another crack at checking the local geese. From past experience, the Pink-Foot flock were occasionally viewable from Hartley Road between Holywell Dene and the Delaval Arms, but with the flock being so mobile, I didn’t have the highest hopes of getting a chance to check them. However, on arrival, I headed to my usual spot, and immediately spotted 14 geese in the field. 11 Greylag Geese, and 3 Smaller Geese on their own away from the distant Pink-Footed Goose flock. After setting up my scope, one thought crossed my mind: ‘3 Geese on their own? Pink or Orange Bill?’ And Bingo! 3 Tundra Bean Geese feeding in the field! At this point I rang Joe Dobinson who came along and confirmed them. 5 minutes later, they wandered out of view. We thought that was the last sighting of them, however soon after, the Pink-Footed Goose flock were all flushed up, and the Bean Geese went up with them, and they became even more obvious when flying with Pink-Footed Geese. A great patch tick!