Getting a goose

Brent Goose is a bird I've dipped twice in Notts (at Dunham and Langford), but it's also one I've been expecting to find locally one day - and that day was yesterday (Saturday). I'd had a nice morning out at Collingham, with the two redhead Smew still on Ferry Lane Lake, along with a Great White Egret which then flew south towards Langford. This bird is missing a primary from the middle of its right wing, and is the same bird that has been frequenting the area of late.  

Running out of time, I had a quick look at Mons Pool. As well as a pair of Red-crested Pochards, there were lots of Greylags present. After a quick scan, I concluded there were no Pinkies (or indeed any other grey geese) lurking amongst them, and started back towards the car. What sounded like a Pinkie calling had me turn round, and note a small, dark goose... scoping it revealed it to be a juvenile Dark-bellied Brent Goose. I'm not sure how I'd missed this initially, but at least I got it in the end... A county tick and my 185th patch species. 

Juv Dark-bellied Brent Goose

Juv Dark-bellied Brent Goose

Ice n' easy

Cotham Landfill apparently only has about 14 months left - so one more winter after this one. After that, the chances of finding white-wingers and Casps locally will be dramatically reduced. 

However, I've been a bit rubbish at visiting the site over the last few weeks, mainly due to work pressures. But with Wednesday and Thursday off work to paint my front room, I was planning a visit on the Thursday, once I'd done the majority of the decorating. However, this proved to be an error, with someone finding an Iceland Gull at Kilvington Lakes, and then at Cotham Landfill on the Wednesday. Oh well, kudos to them!

A visit to the tip first thing on Thursday paid instant dividends, as although most of the tipping area is now not visible from the cyclepath, the 2cy Iceland showed nicely for a few minutes on the front bank before flying out of sight (where the majority of the gulls were). 

Anyway, always nice to see a white-winger. But how many more...?

Iceland Gull

All of Jan and the start of Feb

Its been a steady start to 2019 on the patch; Smew and Great White Egret lingered from 2018, but a Raven over Mons Pool on 27th was a species that eluded me last year. Both Jack Snipe and Woodcock gave themselves up without too much trouble (the former on Ferry Lane Lake, the latter at Parish Field). A whopping 105 Pochard held a Red-crested Pochard at the end of the month, and Wigeon numbers built up to around 340, although Tufted Duck numbers remained low - making the chances of finding a Lesser Scaup a bit of a long shot. I finished the month on a modest 78 species, with plenty still to go at in February. 

Smew

GWE, with Little Egrets and Grey Herons

Away from the patch, I caught up with the Hooded Crow at Bothamsall on 25th, on my fifth attempt, and bagged the three Shorelarks at Langford Lowfields before work today, having been unable to do any birding over the weekend. Added to the Velvet Scoters in November, it has been a good run in Notts for county listers (one of whom I'm not...).

Hooded Crow

Visits to Cotham Landfill have been few and far between; the tip is getting increasingly difficult to view, and gull numbers have been unremarkable. This has been reflected by a lack of white-wingers in the roost at Hoveringham, and similarly low gull numbers. My best there was a 2cy Caspian Gull on 2nd.