I called in again at Moss Lane, St Helens this morning, half hoping that the
yellow wagtail from Saturday would still be present, but mainly hoping to
finally connect with the feral barnacle goose flock which frequents the area.
No sign of the wagtail but fortunately the geese were present on the stubble
fields next to the rugby ground and a count revealed at least 261 birds, along
with 200+ Canada geese. The two species were right next to each other in the
field but there was hardly any overlap and I didn't see anything which looked
like a hybrid.
I do find it quite amazing how scarce barnacle goose is at Pennington Flash,
just 10 miles down the road. In 40 years I've only seen four at the flash, yet
these birds do wander at least as far as Martin Mere occasionally and
individuals from this flock have been recorded as far as Surrey, something we
know thanks to a colour ringing project.
This is the only colour ringed barnacle from Knowsley that I have seen at
Pennington Flash, back in September 2022.
Nice to see this juvenile stonechat in one of the horse paddocks today.
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