Todd's Canada goose, Rockcliffe Marsh, Cumbria

Another day spent at Rockcliffe Marsh watching the impressive barnacle goose flocks, and today I finally came up trumps and managed to find a few different birds. 

It just goes to show how vast this area is and how difficult viewing can be that despite spending nearly three full days scanning through these flocks, it was only in the last half hour before I left for home that I spotted that for which I had been searching, the Holy Grail, a cracking Todd's Canada goose. It was a moment of high elation I can tell you and goodness knows what anybody who saw me would have thought. A lone figure standing for hours near Esk Boat House in a slushy mixture of mud, water and cow sh#t, silent and motionless, unmoved in the teeth of a gale and battered by heavy showers, relentlessly watching, who suddenly leapt up, punched the air and shouted "a f*!king Todd's!" and then returned to his silent vigil. But that's exactly how it was.

What a stunning bird it was, it had everything including a long and ridiculously thin snake like neck. A classic Todd's and hands down bird of the trip this week.

As if that wasn't enough, as I watched the Todd's, a 1st winter pale-bellied brent goose wandered past, only about the second that I have ever seen in this area. The majority of pale-bellied brent geese (i.e. those wintering in Ireland) breed in Greenland, but there is a population breeding on Svalbard which winters on Lindisfarne. Since the Solway barnacles also breed on Svalbard it would seem likely that this is also the origin of the brent, though the presence of the North American Canada goose shows that it ain't necessarily so.

And then there was this! The general consensus is that it is a Ross's x barnacle goose hybrid, but it deserves a separate post all of it's own to discuss it's likely parentage and origins, click here (opens in a new window) or just go to the next post on the blog!  

The barnacles aren't just in one huge flock, they are in several flocks all over the marsh, yet all of todays star birds, Todd's, brent and hybrid, were in the same flock of about 500 geese. Interestingly all of the barnacle flocks that I have seen this week with the exception of this flock have contained no other species, they've just been pure barnacles. Is it coincidence that these three are all together in the same relatively small flock? 

Yesterday I met another birder who told me that ten days ago he had seen a Todd's and a brent in exactly the same place but not since. The fact that the Todd's and brent are still together in the same flock would seem to imply that despite all of these micro flocks occasionally randomly mixing and forming one huge flock, the individuals of each micro flock tend to stick together. It would be interesting to know if the hybrid is also staying with the Todd's and the brent, unfortunately the other birder didn't mention it. 

This particular flock has presumably been roaming the marsh distantly for nearly two weeks until today, when it came close enough again to be looked through properly. 

However the late afternoon events at Esk Boat House over on the north side of the marsh were only half the story. I had a proper tale to tell long before I saw the North American Canada and friends...

After a brief look from Esk Boat house first thing I headed for the south end of the marsh and walked out along the River Eden, north of Carr Beds where a few years ago I watched a greater yellowlegs and went as far as I could before I reached the start of the marsh proper at the point where access is prohibited. A vast flock of barnacles was feeding on the opposite side of the river but viewing was very difficult in such an exposed spot in the strong wind. 

There was a creek nearby which fortunately pointed in the right direction and also offered some shelter so after testing the mud I dropped down, lowered my tripod legs and knelt on my trusty piece of plastic which I always carry with me for such an eventuality. Now I was in a great position, the wind was almost non-existent and I was completely alone and out of view from anybody. The grass of the saltmarsh was two feet above my head, all I could see was the view from the entrance of my creek. Many of the barnacles were out of view because they were on the grass and I was below their level, but I could still see much of the flock.

Suddenly with a deafening cacophony of noise the whole flock took off, presumably flushed by something on the other side of the river but after swirling around for a few minutes most of them landed on the mud in front of me and now they were down to my level so easier to view. Still difficult though in tightly packed ranks, but what an experience, easily 10,000 birds, I felt like I was right in the heart of the action and even closer to me on the mud there were hundreds of redshank, dunlin and curlew. The experience of a lifetime.

I watched them for half an hour but then realised that the tide was rushing in at an alarming rate so I was forced to climb back on to the grass. By now the geese were also being forced off the mud and many were flying north towards Esk Boat House. I decided to follow their example and thank goodness I did....

Excuse the photos, it was a dreadfully dull day with squally showers and a strong wind.

My creek is on the right of this photo. Notice how much mud there is here, taken at 10:20

This is after I had left the creek at about 11:00. Notice how little mud there is already!

I don't know what more I can say about Todd's Canada goose, this is the third I have seen this year but for shear spectacle and excitement it was the best.

 

That neck is wonderful!