Review of 2019 and 2020 - Birds: Geese, Swans and Shelducks

DUCKS, GEESE and SWANS (family ANATIDAE)


Dark-bellied Brent Goose Branta bernicla - 300 past Sheringham on 21st October 2019.


Grey-bellied Brant Branta bernicla [nigricans?] - It was great to see this amazing goose again on New Year's Day 2020 having first seen it on Boxing Day 2018.

Grey-bellied Brant, Fring, 1st January 2020

Canada Goose Branta canadensis - Occasionally seen (up to 25) flying over or past at the meadows.


Canada Goose x Greylag Goose hybrid Branta canadensis x Anser anser - Given that I don't see many Greylag or Canada Geese at the meadows I did quite well to see a hybrid on two occasions (11th February and 24th August 2019), quite possibly both involving the same individual, both times seen flying with Canada Geese.  Also one at Fairburn Ings on the way home from the Lakes.

Canada Goose (left) and Canada Goose x Greylag Goose hybrid (right), North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 24th August 2019

Greylag Goose x Canada Goose hybrid, Fairburn Ings, 7th April 2019

Barnacle Goose Branta leucoptera - One flew over the meadows on 2nd May 2019.  Further afield 2 presumed wild birds with Pink-feet at Fring on 1st January 2020 and in 2019, 85 at Burnham Overy, 12+ at Minsmere (Suffolk) and 60 at Derwentwater (Cumbria).


Greylag Goose Anser anser - The most frequently-recorded goose flying over the meadows though 30 on 28th September 2020 was unusual.


Greylag Goose x Swan Goose hybrid Anser anser x Anser cygnoides - One of a pair of "Greylag" Geese seen flying over the meadows in spring 2020 showed a dark nail which is not present on pure Greylag Geese.  Such birds are normally presumed to be backcrossed hybrids with domestic Swan Goose.  The other bird in the pair had a rather deep-based bill and a suggestion of a knob, so it appears that both birds were hybrids.

Greylag Goose x Swan Goose hybrids, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 7th March 2020

Pink-footed Goose Anser brachyrhynchus - Several records of birds flying over home including  about 400 on 7th January 2019 and about 150 on 28th November 2020.  Also several records over the meadows including 226 (in four flocks) on 2nd Janaury 2019.  Elsewhere records included 3 lingering at Great Ryburgh on 17th April 2019 and 7 on the Hayle Estuary (Cornwall) on 10th October 2020.

Pink-footed Geese, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 2nd January 2019

Tundra Bean Goose Anser serrirostris - One at Choseley on 1st January 2020.

Tundra Bean Goose, Chosely, 1st January 2020

White-fronted Goose Anser albifrons - 18 at Lyng Easthaugh on 12th January, 2 over Stiffkey Fen on 16th October and 4 at Bittering on Christmas Day, all in 2020.

White-fronted Geese, Lyng Easthaugh, 12th January 2020

Lesser White-fronted Goose Anser erythropus - An absolutely tiny goose was seen flying with 2 Greylag Geese on 26th April 2019 but way too distant to get anything on it at all.  It was probably an escaped Lesser White-fronted Goose, perhaps the individual that was seen at various places around the county during the year, but with such poor views (and no telescope with me) I couldn't nail it.


Black Swan Cygnus atratus - One at Nosterfield (Yorkshire) on 31st December 2019.


Mute Swan Cygnus olor - Regularly seen in the valley below the meadows or in adjacent meadows.


Bewick's Swan Cygnus columbianus - 2 at St Benet's Abbey on 1st December 2019.


Whooper Swan Cygnus cygnus - One at Fairburn Ings (Yorkshire) on 7th April and 14 at St Benet's Abbey on 1st December 2019.


Egyptian Goose Alopochen aegyptiaca - Sometimes seen flying over the meadows or in adjacent farmland.

Egyptian Geese, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 20th January 2020

Shelduck Tadorna tadorna - One flew over the meadows on 9th May 2020, my only record there so far.  Elsewhere records included 165 at Blakeney Harbour on 16th October 2020.


Ruddy Shelduck Tadorna ferruginea - One at Gateley on 18th March and 19th April 2019.

Ruddy Shelduck (right, with Egyptian Goose), Gateley, 18th March 2019

Cape (South African) Shelduck Tadorna cana - only in captivity...

captive Cape (South African) Shelduck, Blakeney Collection, 16th October 2020

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Hybrid duck twitching with unexpected result

A late diary entry for reasons that I will explain further down...

Nick Moran got in touch with me in November with photos of a Mallard x White-cheeked Pintail hybrid he'd seen at Nunnery Lakes.  I wasn't convinced from the first image he showed me but other photos supported his proposed ID.  We'd discussed me visiting early one morning but plans were scuppered by the surprise finding of a Little Bunting and a Siberian Chiffchaff at the site, and the disappearance of the hybrid duck.  Then on Friday the bunting hadn't been seen again but the duck had reappeared, and a better photo seemed to confirm that it was indeed Mallard x White-cheeked Pintail.  There is public access to the north end of Nunnery Lakes but not the bit where the duck had frequented so Nick kindly offered to let me in on Saturday 19th November.  Nick and Neil would be ringing there but Nick would meet me at the public hide and show me where to go.

I arrived early and met Nick as planned.  Good to meet Nick - a name that's been familiar to me for ages but a face I'd not matched to the name before.  He showed me where to go before returning to the ringing station and I had an enjoyable wander round.  No sign of the target though, but a drake Mandarin, a couple of Snipe feeding out in the open and frequent sightings (or hearings) of Kingfishers.  Several Siskins flew over as well as one or two Redpolls including one feeding Lesser Redpoll.

Kingfisher, Nunnery Lakes, 19th November

Snipe, Nunnery Lakes, 19th November

Mandarin, Nunnery Lakes, 19th November

Lesser Redpoll, Nunnery Lakes, 19th November

News that Nick and Neil had trapped the Siberian Chiffchaff was fortuitous and had me scurrying over to where they were based.  Great to see this scarce and subtle bird in the hand - the first time I've done so.  Nice to meet Neil for the first time too.

Siberian Chiffchaff, Nunnery Lakes, 19th November

Once that was released I headed back to continue my search for the duck but in no time I had another message from Nick - the Little Bunting had reappeared!  I headed back towards them hoping I would reach them in time before it disappeared for another few days.  As I got close to them they started looking up into a small tree just above them and there in the top was the Little Bunting.  It wasn't all that far from me so I took a few photos, during which time it flew off calling.  Great to hear it calling as I missed out on that experience with the bird I found at the coast recently.  It went down but despite our best efforts we couldn't find it again - and it hasn't been seen again there since.

Little Bunting, Nunnery Lakes, 19th November

They now had a dilemma though - whether or not to release news.  Nunnery Lakes is a private site, one end of which has public access via a permissive footpath.  The Siberian Chiffchaff and the Little Bunting were not in that part - they were in a section where access is restricted even for BTO staff.  Arranging access for visitors would always be tricky here, although had the birds been showing reliably they would have attempted to do so.  As it was the Little Bunting hadn't been seen for 3 days, despite searching, and had now gone missing again.  I'm sure they made the right decision not to release news at this point.  In fact neither the Chiffchaff nor the Little Bunting were seen again at all - at least not at Nunnery Lakes.  Both birds have possibly been relocated elsewhere during the last week or so... Nick found what was very likely the same Little Bunting not all that far away across the border at Knettishall in Suffolk, and a ringed Siberian Chiffchaff with a single pale inner greater-covert in its left wing (like the Nunnery Lakes bird) turned up at Fen Drayton.

I failed in one final attempt to see the hybrid duck but I didn't mind.  To have seen a Siberian Chiffchaff in the hand and had good if brief views of a Little Bunting, I'd had a fantastic morning.  It would have been a great morning at a coastal migration station but at a fairly average set of fishing lakes miles from the coast it was quite extraordinary.  Of course Nick and Neil were at pains to point out that it's not normally this good, but what a fantastic introduction to Nunnery Lakes!  Just goes to show what's possible if you regularly watch an inland patch, and I feel very privileged to have been part of this purple patch purely through sheer chance having been invited there only to see a hybrid duck.  I certainly didn't go there expecting to see and photograph a Little Bunting and a Siberian Chiffchaff!

On my way back to the car I saw my third Greylag Goose x Canada Goose hybrid of the morning, this one with a white streak down the side of the breast probably betraying domestic ancestry of the Greylag parent.

domestic Greylag Goose x Canada Goose hybrid, Nunnery Lakes, 19th November

One of the earlier birds had quite extensive white around the head and upper neck which may betray domestic ancestry too, although the extent of white is variable on normal Greylag x Canada Goose hybrids.

Greylag Goose (probably domestic) x Canada Goose hybrid, Nunnery Lakes, 19th November

Common woodland birds on my walk back to Nun's Bridge included Marsh Tit, Nuthatch and Treecreeper.  At Nun's Bridge a Grey Wagtail flew over and the family party of domestic goose x Canada Goose hybrids was still present (I'd first seen these when twitching the Black-bellied Dipper in February 2013).  The domestic parent appears to be a mix of Greylag Goose and Swan Goose so the offspring are trigens.

Moorhen, Nun's Bridge, 19th November

After this I birded a few sites in the Brecks not finding very much of interest.  The original Reeves's Pheasant x Common Pheasant hybrid is still at Threxton Hill and a Nuthatch was seen at Bodney Warren.  A flock of about 40 Bramblings were south of Cockley Cley and Marsh Tit or two nearby.

Reeves's Pheasant x Common Pheasant hybrid, Threxton Hill, 19th November

I stopped off at the patch at dusk seeing a Peregrine on one of the gravel workings.

Peregrine, near Bittering, 19th November