Snow On The Horizon

 English Snow Geese are a bit like tomatoes in that they're best taken with a pinch of salt, at one time we had quite a few feral birds knocking about locally but they seem to have disappeared. When one turned up at Tongue End in Lincolnshire last year I didn't  pay it any attention assuming that it had the same dodgy provenance. It then moved to Deeping Lakes which was also about the time when I learnt that the bird had arrived with Whooper Swans and was being treated as a genuine wild bird by many. With a lieu day off and a window of time before the arrival of Storm Goretti Alan and I took a journey over there this morning for the proverbial wild goose chase.

Bewick's and Whooper Swans

The latest bird news suggested that the goose had left the east lake on the reserve at about half eight in the company of Whooper and Bewick's Swans and was heading out into nearby fields to feed. We headed along Crowland Road and soon encountered a large flock of swans in a beet field. Having found a safe spot to park we began to check through them hoping to find their smaller associate. Neither we nor a newly arrived Lee Evans could find the goose though five Bewick's provided some compensation. Another birder told us that the goose and a number of Whoopers had continued flying along the River Welland before being lost to view. Our small band of birders split up to scour the surrounding countryside.

The smaller white blob is a Snow Goose!

We left the Crowland Road and turned onto the Welland Bank heading in the vague direction of Spalding. A small group of swans in a roadside field proved to be Mutes and Whoopers but beyond them and someway more distant was a much larger group. We drove as close to them as we could though it's possible they were still in a different postcode to us! Initial scans revealed them to be more Whoopers though at first there was no sign of our quarry.  Whilst counting the swans (200+ if you're interested) Shozzer found the goose which given the distance and some mist was quite an achievement! After watching it for a while and having taken the poorest of pics we headed for the main Spalding Road to see if we could get closer to this new species for me. No such luck attended those efforts and we headed into Market Deeping for a pint and some lunch arriving back in Corby before the forecast rain and snow did.