Sunday 29 January 2023

Richardson's Cackling Goose, Norfolk

This morning we travelled to Norfolk hoping to find a Richardson's Cackling Goose. In 2012 we saw one at Kelling, but the powers that be decided it had dubious credentials, therefore it wasn't accepted and didn't make my list. 

We left home early stopping at Welney on the way. Connecting with Tree Sparrows among the bramble bushes and three Cattle Egret flew up and over the road in front of us. A Barn Owl landed on a nearby fence post and flew even closer while hunting along the fence line. Thousands of Whooper Swans were in nearly all the surrounding fields. 






Positive news came through that the Cackling Goose had been seen, so we headed to Brancaster and found a space on the concrete pad along Mill Road. The goose was still present, but distant in the far sugar beet field with a large flock of Pink-footed Geese. It took a while to locate the goose, but with helpful directions from Graham J I eventually located it at the front of the Pink-foots. Hopefully, this bird will make it onto my list.

Holkham was our next destination and we got lucky when we connected with a Firecrest in trees near the outlook cafe. A seawatch from the gap was productive picking out a Velvet Scoter among the numerous commons along with Long-tailed Duck and several Red-breasted Mergansers.

No comments:

Post a Comment