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

Next page: Ducks

Or return to Birds index

12 miles of Breckland magic

On Thursday I only managed a spot of local birding.  A flock of 10 White-fronted Geese were still present at one site but later when I returned to my car a flock of 12 White-fronted Geese were flying around.  They appeared from the direction of where I'd left the 10 so I have to assume they included the 10, but as there had been up to 32 in the are until recently maybe not.  Other than 475 Wigeon there wasn't much else to report.

White-fronted Geese, Bittering, 16th February

On Friday I had a lovely day in the Brecks.  I walked a total of 12 miles and saw plenty of birds along the way.  For the most part they weren't rare birds, but they did include some rare breeding birds including 2 Goshawks, 7-8 Woodlarks and, most unexpectedly, a pair of Cranes.  If the latter do indeed stay to breed it will be for the first time in this area.

I enjoyed watching one pair of Woodlarks that plonked themselves down on a fence not very far away from me and proceeded to display to each other, each bird dipping its head down and lifting it right back, swinging from side to side as one bird gradually moved closer to the other.  I was half expecting to see copulation when they eventually met but in fact they flew up and dropped to the ground out of sight (where who knows what they got up to) before flying up and continuing their display aerially while singing.  I'd never seen all that before - fantastic.

Other highlights included several small groups of Bramblings, lots of Siskins, the odd Redpoll flying over, Nuthatches, Treecreepers, Marsh Tits, Green and drumming Great Spotted Woodpeckers, etc.  Also flushed a Woodcock and saw a Kingfisher.

Beside the A1075 near Wretham Camp I was surprised to see a Ruddy Shelduck paired with an Egyptian Goose right next to the road.  It was also next to a minor turn off allowing me to pull in safely and photograph it - it proved to be very tame.  On closer inspection I noticed the bird had dark vermiculations on its rear flank feathers and rear upper scapulars - features that should not occur on pure Ruddy Shelduck.  It also had a grey spot in the middle of the crown.  I've seen a few Ruddy Shelducks with some grey on the head and wondered about their genetic purity, but this one was more extreme than most.  Cape Shelduck (now often known as South African Shelduck) has a grey head of course, and also shows dark vermiculations where this bird had.  My assumption is therefore that this bird was a Ruddy Shelduck x Cape Shelduck hybrid.  I saw an identical bird - I suspect it was the very same bird - near Bittering in January 2015.  Maybe these apparent Ruddy Shelduck x Egyptian Goose hybrids that have been seen around the county recently are really trigens (Ruddy Shelduck x Cape Shelduck) x Egyptian Goose hybrids...?!

apparent Ruddy Shelduck x Cape Shelduck hybrid, East Wretham, 17th February

During the day I had a quick look at the gulls at Thetford but they wouldn't settle and if they had settled in the usual place the light wouldn't have been very good, so I decided to head on to Livermere to have a look at all the gulls in the pig fields there.  The only problem with that plan was that there weren't any gulls in the pig fields.  There were a few in one of the neighbouring fields, but very few indeed - just a handful of large gulls.  I had to make do with a tenebrosus Pheasant nearby...

Pheasant (var tenebrosus), Timworth, 17th February

I didn't do much yesterday but Bylaugh sewage treatment works produced Grey Wagtail and Nuthatch but no sign of the two wintering Chiffchaffs. 

This afternoon I spent some time on the local patch where at least 11 White-fronted Geese are hanging on.  I flushed a Jack Snipe and 9 Snipe from one private field though suspect a more methodical approach would have given a higher tally.

Jack Snipe, private site, 19th February

A wander round Beetley Common produced 1-2 Bramblings, Grey Wagtail and Treecreeper.

Broadland birding

On Monday I headed to the Broads.  I arrived at Martham Broad at dawn as 7 Little Egrets were flying from roost somewhere south of the broad and a Barn Owl was hunting alongside the footpath.  In the field were 2 White-fronted Geese among the Greylags but by the time I walked back these had increased to 9 White-fronted Geese.  The Tawny Owl was in its usual spot - just as difficult to see as before.  I was pleased to see far more duck on the broad compared to my last visit (in fact one duck would have been an improvement).  Among the 95 Pochard and 86 Tufted Ducks were 2 Scaup, both drakes.  There were also 9 Goldeneye there.  Cranes were calling but I didn't see them.

Scaup (and a Pochard), Martham Broad, 30th January

There were another 4 White-fronted Geese in a field next to the road at West Somerton and I stopped at Horsey Mere where 2 Red Deer were in the field opposite.  There were quite a few duck on the mere itself but many of the Teal swam out of view as soon as I arrived.  As I headed back to the car a Green Sandpiper flew up and away - worryingly this is the first one I have seen or heard this winter which, given how much time I've spent birding in suitable places, is a bad sign.  I used to encounter them a few times over the course of a winter in various places with far less effort.

Magpie, Horsey Mere, 30th January

I stopped briefly at Waxham - couldn't see Glaucs or Purple Sands or anything else of note along the beach, though I only looked from the top of the dunes by Shangri La.  There were a few Red-throated Divers moving past - I counted 12 in what can't have been much more than 5 minutes or so.  I then drove down Eastfield Road at Hickling.  I'd only been down here a couple of times, once to see a White-tailed Eagle way back in the early 90s (which I didn't see) and once more recently to see a Lesser Grey Shrike which was on private land off the end of the road (access had been arranged).  I thought the footpath running parallel to the road to the east might be worth an explore, and so it was, just about.  There were 8-10 Lesser Redpolls in the alders and a small flock of Redwing feeding on the ground.  I flushed a Woodcock and a Chinese Water Deer.  I could hear the Cranes again from here.

Next I stopped at the Pleasure Boat Inn at Hickling where looking out across the Broad I picked up a group of 6 Scaup.  Also 4 Goldeneye here.

I now drove round to Potter Heigham church where I parked and walked out to Rushill Scrape.  I didn't notice getting a message about a Great Northern Diver on the Broad viewable from near the scrape - I'm not sure if the message had arrived by that time or not.  I did have a quick look on the Broad from the footpath but might have looked for a bit longer if I'd seen the message.  At Rushill Scrape there were good numbers of Teal feeding and I flushed about 5 pipits from the cut reeds in front of the hide.  Some of the calls sounded like Meadow Pipit but there were at least 2-3 Water Pipits among them.  I walked on, seeing the likes of Marsh Tits and Cetti's Warblers before arriving at the newly created Potter Heigham Marsh.

I first heard about Potter Heigham Marsh when people started to report an assortment of interesting waders last autumn but I'd never been here before.  It's a fairly extensive area of reed-fringed wetland and I gather that the intention is to allow the reedbeds to grow in order to encourage Bitterns.  I guess that will reduce the area of open water which may perhaps make it less attractive for general birding.  Right now though it was great, stacked full of dabbling duck.  I spent quite a bit of time staring at one particular female Wigeon that I thought showed a few American characteristics.  Eventually it flew revealing axillaries as grey as any I've seen, so no luck this time.  It did however prompt a re-read of ID papers covering this topic, something I'd been meaning to do for a while (and which made me realise that my bird hadn't really been so good a contender as I'd thought).

As I arrived at the site 27 White-fronted Geese flew south over the marsh.  Later I found nearly that many in fields across the river south of Martham Ferry (along with 19 Curlew), and imagined they might be the same birds.  There were 2 Stonechats in the reeds and at least 3 pairs of Bearded Tits.

Bearded Tit, Potter Heigham Marsh, 30th January

Stonechat, Potter Heigham Marsh, 30th January

I could hear Cranes over towards Heigham Holmes and made several unsuccessful attempts to see them.  Eventually I did find them - miles away and hidden behind a hedge.  I could only see them because they were dancing, which was great to see albeit with difficulty - when they jumped up flapping their wings they were possible to see above the hedges.

As well as this Kestrel a Sparrowhawk made a dash past me and a Barn Owl was huting over the back.  There were a couple of Water Pipits here too, though I never saw one on the deck.

Kestrel, Potter Heigham Marsh, 30th January

As I reached the far end of the marsh (in fact the mill beyond there) waves of geese began flying over from the direction of Potter Heigham and towards Heigham Holmes.  Some of the flocks were Pink-feet but of more interest were 307 White-fronted Geese.

White-fronted Geese, Potter Heigham Marsh, 30th January

As I headed back towards Rushill Scrape I bumped in to Ryan and Jason - good to see them and have an interesting chat.  While we were talking 3 Cranes dropped in to what I think must be Candle Dyke Marsh.  They flew off towards Rushill Scrape later and when I got round there they were viewable in the field behind the hide - until some more people came along and they flew off.

Cranes, near Rushill Scrape, 30th January

Also Kingfisher heard calling and in the woodland near the tower a herd of at least 20 Red Deer.  The second time I saw Red Deer today which I found interesting - I used to come out this way quite regularly in the 90s and don't remember ever seeing Red Deer in the area then.  I met a couple at Rushill Scrape who had just seen a Great Northern Diver, and it was only then that I realised that I had much earlier received a message about it being there.  Viewing the broad isn't easy from the path but eventually I saw the Great Northern Diver swimming rapidly away.  A minute later I picked it up again, this time in flight flying away over the back of the broad and heading in the direction of the coast. 

It was getting late but I figured there was enough light to look through the Pink-feet at Clippesby.  A lot of birds were flying off from the flock as I arrived and the number of birds remaining was quite low.  Even so I managed to pick out 9 Tundra Bean Geese, although this was a miniscule number compared to the incredible counts Ryan and others were getting over the next few days.  I had a quick look at the broads from Filby Bridge in the last glimmers of daylight - 3 Goldeneye and 3 Whooper Swans on Filby Broad and 3 Goldeneye and a Kingfisher at Ormesby Little Broad. 

Local birding last week was largely unproductive.  A flock of 8 Mandarins near Guist was nice, and a flock of 75 Bramblings near Bintree Mill along with Kingfisher, Grey Wagtail and singing Treecreeper.

Local birds and a superb Hen Harrier at the coast

I only popped out locally each day from Tuesday to Friday and by and large didn't see much (or anything) to report.  In fact on Wednesday I didn't see anything at all - didn't realise how foggy it was until I got out of the village.

Buzzard, Foxley Wood, 24th January

Thursday was marginally better - the patch now holds at least 35 White-fronted Geese.  Here are 29 of them...

White-fronted Geese, Bittering, 26th January

There were also much larger numbers of wildfowl than usual including at least 328 Teal (they were bunched up so the real number is probably much higher) and maybe 5-600 Wigeon, if not more.  Also heard a Brambling call which I think is the first time I've had one on the patch this year.

Yesterday I returned to Swanton Morley fishing lakes which were mainly frozen over - a handful of wildfowl crammed in to the small unfrozen section of Holkham Lake included 17 Tufted Ducks, 2 Shoveler and a Teal.  Little else to report apart from Treecreeper, Bullfinches and Siskins.  Nearby at Bylaugh Sewage Works the 2 Chiffchaffs continue to feed on the filter beds.

Chiffchaff, Bylaugh, 27th January

Today I headed up to Burnham Overy at dawn.  Among the Pink-feet heading off over the village were 6 Barnacle Geese (another 25 Barnacle Geese were on the freshmarsh a little later).  I disturbed a Kingfisher a couple of times as I walked down the sea wall and there were 7 Goldeneye in the channel.

As I walked through the dunes to Gun Hill a Hen Harrier appeared hunting over Gun Hill and then flying towards me along the dunes.  I enjoyed fantastic views of it and managed a few snaps too.

Hen Harrier, Burnham Overy, 28th January

I briefly heard what sounded like a Long-tailed Tit coming from an isolated privet and then, some time later, I heard it again.  Surely a single Long-tailed Tit wouldn't be lurking in such a bush, unseen, for so long - could it have been something else?  Eventually, but not before quite a wait, I was staggered to see not 1 but 8 Long-tailed Tits emerge from the little bush!  They flew off towards Gun Hill where I later found at least 16 Long-tailed Tits being much more typically vocal and visible.

There were 2 Common Seals on the end of Scolt Head before I turned my attentions to the sea where there were 4 Red-breasted Mergansers and the odd Great Crested Grebe and Red-throated Diver but nothing scarcer.  A couple of Fulmar flew west.

As I walked east through the dunes 3 Red Kites flew through the dunes.  Towards the east end I had another go at the sea, picking up a Slavonian Grebe close in not far away.  Further into Holkham Bay the scoter flock were a bit distant from my vantage point but I managed to pick out at least 2 Velvet Scoters.

Crossing the dunes and looking towards Holkham there were little groups of White-fronted Geese in several places - not sure how many - at least 25 but probably 50 or more with others no doubt hidden.  Also one of the Great White Egrets was on show briefly.

Heading back to the car the goose flocks contained the Black Brant x Dark-bellied Brent Goose hybrid and a Stonechat was feeding on the tideline.

Mallards, Burnham Overy, 28th January