Duck Dipping, Goose Gazing

 I was looking after my wife last weekend following her knee replacement surgery and so did not have time to venture out. It wasn't a total blank however as I still managed to see my first butterfly of the year when a male Brimstone flew through my garden on the Saturday. This week Sandra had recovered enough to allow me to take a trip out in the company of regular birding pal Shozzer. After some thought and a little deliberation we decided to head over to Titchmarsh where the drake Ring-necked Duck had been present for most of the previous week on Heronry Lake.  There was plenty of sunshine but a cool northerly breeze kept the temperatures down.

White-fronted Geese and Pink-feet

The first of several Chiffchaffs was singing at the car park, we heard quite a few Cetti's too. From North Hide we were treated to distant views of three adult White-fronted Geese as well as pairs of both Oystercatcher and Redshank. A little further on  and a scan of the margins of the main lake revealed a Pink-footed Goose which we watched preening before it swam off out of view. Unfortunately the Ring-necked Duck was either being shy or had done a bunk and we dipped on it again for the second time, we weren't its only victims though as it looks as if no one else saw it today either. We completed our walk around the reserve managing to see what was probably a second Pink-footed Goose as two had been reported earlier, this one appeared to have a limp and the first one did not. Happy with the geese if not with the duck we left Titchmarsh and headed to Blatherwycke.

Egret trio

At the lake it was a case of catching up with old friends as first the long staying Cattle Egret and then the even longer staying Scaup were seen. The egret was playing mini me next to a Great White and completed a hattrick of egrets as we'd already seen a Little at the bridge. It took some time to find the Scaup but find her I did as she snoozed in the middle of the lake on the Blatherwycke side of the bund. Eventually she did wake up for a brief moment but the effort clearly tired her out as she soon dropped off again! There was not much else to report and we headed to the Cross Keys in King's Cliffe for a pint. 

Scaup