I've not had the chance to visit Morton Bagot this weekend, but John C recorded three Stonechats there on Saturday, and Tony described his ringing return as very poor (he caught six or seven common birds) but did see the Barn Owl and a Jack Snipe.
So this morning I decided to make a second visit to Shortwood Roughs where the Tundra Bean Goose and Pink-footed Goose were still present. Initially I spotted the Greylags quite close to the road, but before I had got the scope out six of them were flying off, and you guessed it the TBG and PFG were with them.
At least they settled by the flash at the far end of the field and I got some distant shots. Also present on what I could see of the tiny flash was a female Teal. I resigned myself to getting nothing better and decided to head for the footpath and follow it southwards. This unexpectedly paid dividends.
I was passing a gap in a hedge, having already seen a Brown Hare, a Snipe, and a couple of singing Skylarks when I noticed a handful of geese reasonably close and that the Tundra Bean Goose and Pink-footed Goose were with them.
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| TBG middle, and PFG on right |
They were apparently unaware of my presence, and I took the chance to film them.
I suppose the provenance of the Tundra Bean Goose is questionable as it was first seen in late August, although the Pink-foot arrived with a small influx in early October. If they are still around in May they'll be a lot of disappointed local listers reaching for the Tippex.
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