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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King Eider, Siberian Chiffchaff and Grey-bellied Brant

Apart from Nuthatch, Treecreeper, Redpolls, Siskins, Bullfinches and a Brambling at the local meadows, the only birding worth mentioning in the first week of November was a quick visit to Sheringham.  I found the King Eider reasonably easily, opposite the west end of the golf course.  There was a Common Scoter in the same bit of sea and 4 Redshanks flew west.

King Eider (with Common Scoter in bottom image), Sheringham, 5th November

Local birding didn't improve the following week except that there were up to 4 Lesser Redpolls and Siskin at home.

A visit to Burnham Overy on 17th November was interesting enough, though perhaps not as much as I would have liked.  There were 20 Barnacle Geese, which are normally assumed to be the local feral flock.  That may indeed have been the case for all of them, but I did wonder about these two as I picked them up over the dunes apparently flying in from the NNW.  Maybe they were part of the feral flock that had just had a bit of a fly around, or maybe they were genuine immigrants arriving from the north...?  I suspect the former.

Barnacle Geese, Burnham Overy, 17th November

There was a large raft of Common Scoter just off the mouth of the Burn.

Common Scoter, Burnham Overy, 17th November

Sadly I couldn't find any more unusual scoters among them, though there were 6 Red-breasted Mergansers knocking around.  Also 4 Tufted Ducks east and 3 Razorbills.

There was a Great White Egret in the estuary, and I saw 2 Avocets, Kingfisher, Short-eared Owl and 2 Red Kites.  But so far as passerine migrants were concerned it was pretty tough going.  There was one Blackcap and at least 100 Blackbirds but precious little else.

Mike Buckland had fared a little better at the west end of Holkham Pines finding a nice Siberian Chiffchaff there, so I went along to join him looking at that.  It was an interesting bird.  Not quite as obvious as they can be with distinct greenish tones visible in the scapulars in some lights - enough that would once upon a time have disqualified it but apparently not any more.  In other lights it looked really good - compare the two images below.

Siberian Chiffcahff, Holkham Pines, 17th November

Mike had tried playing its call in order to elicit a response as the bird had failed to call at all.  This hadn't worked but someone else came along and played a quick burst of Siberian Chiffchaff song.  The bird's response was instantateous!  Immediately it popped up high and started engaging in an amazing wing-shimmering display.  It still remained silent, but this was enough to disperse any remaining doubts as to its identity.  The other Chiffchaff that was alongside it didn't respond at all (in fact there were at least 3 Chiffchaffs here).

Chiffcahff, Holkham Pines, 17th November

For the rest of the month I stayed local and consequently saw little.  I heard Barn Owl from my study and at the meadows heard a Brambling, saw Sparrowhawk, Green and Great Spotted Woodpeckers, Nuthatch and Treecreepers, Siskins and up to 5 Bullfinches.

Stock Dove, North Elmham Cathedral Meaodws, 21st November

Skylark, North Elmham Cathedral Meaodws, 21st November

Robin, North Elmham Cathedral Meaodws, 21st November

Bullfinch, North Elmham Cathedral Meaodws, 21st November

Mistle Thrush, North Elmham Cathedral Meaodws, 25th November

December started with Pink-footed Geese heard over the house on 1st and 2 Redpolls on 3rd.  A quick stop at Wroxham Broad when I was passing on 5th produced 2 Pink-footed Geese among 200+ Greylags.

Local birding was generally slow.  Despite overlooking the river Wensum the only duck species I'd recorded at the Cathedral Meadows between the end of April and December was Mallard.  So it was a surprise to see a Shoveler and 3 Gadwall fly over heading towards the park on 8th.  I don't think I've ever been so excited to see a Shoveler and some Gadwall before in my life!

I went along to Bittering on 17th December where the highlight was these 3 Whooper Swans, a good local bird though not the first time I've seen them here.

Whooper Swans, Bittering, 17th December

Nuthatch and Treecreeper continued to be regular at the meadows, and also Marsh Tits were now appearing more often.

Coal Tit, North Elmham Cathedral Meaodws, 17th December

Blue Tit, North Elmham Cathedral Meaodws, 17th December

Great Tit, North Elmham Cathedral Meaodws, 17th December

A distant flock of 62 Golden Plover were new for the meadows on 22nd (also 213 Lapwings) and 29 Pink-footed Geese flew east on Christmas Eve.  Also this day a newly-formed puddle viewable from the corner of the meadows provided some new habitat and with it some new species for the patch - 2 Wigeon and 12 Teal.

Treecreeper, North Elmham Cathedral Meaodws, 22nd December

I could hear a right old commotion in the larger trees behind the chapel ruins with tits, Blackbirds, finches and Jackdaws all making alarm calls.  Clearly something was up, but the birds seemed well spaced around the top of the tree and it wasn't immediately clear where their cause for concern was.  I wondered if it was a Tawny Owl, but couldn't see one, and then 2 Jays appeared in the tree.  I've seen birds mobbing Jays so maybe these were the cause, but I wasn't convinced.  The Jays flew off and the noise continued, so I walked round the other side and sure enough, there was a Tawny Owl, sat in full view in a hole at the very top of the trunk - an unusually exposed position for one of these to roost I thought.  Well it liked it enough as it remained more-or-less reliable there through into March, and a staggering number of birders came to see it during that time.  Interestingly though, I never saw the other birds getting remotely bothered by it again.

Tawny Owl, North Elmham Cathedral Meaodws, 24th December

On the way down to Kent on Christmas morning 2 Ring-necked Parakeets flew over the M25 near Stapleford Tawney.  Then on Boxing Day, on the way up to the Lake District, I saw a Red Kite near Harrogate and then 8 Black Grouse at a well-known spot followed by Red Grouse and a Barn Owl around Alston Moor.  Not sure how common Barn Owl are up here - I don't recall seeing them up north before.

Black Grouse, up north, 26th December

The final family visit on the whistle-stop tour of the UK was in Dundee on 27th, where we also dipped on Waxwings.  Finally it was back to Norfolk on 28th where first stop was Docking to see the extremely interesting Grey-bellied Brent Goose.  I've looked at photos of one or two putative Grey-bellied before and thought, why aren't they just Dark-bellied x Pale-bellied?  Well, in one or two cases they probably were.  You won't be able to tell from my rubbishy photos but this was quite different.  Very interesting, and I was very grateful to get a second chance after missing it last winter.

Grey-bellied Brent Goose, near Docking, 28th December