A wild goose chase.

A day spent around about home, turned up a few good birds.

This morning we walked to the coast path where a pair of Peregrines were casually soaring not too high over the laybye before gliding off north to settle on a stone wall. A few minutes later on the walk back, a female Merlin came close by, behind a flock of Starlings, looking for an opportunity.

Back home, a male Blackcap was calling and flitting about the drive while on the feeders were 10 Tree Sparrows, 7 Goldfinches and a Great spotted Woodpecker.

A few of the 10 Tree Sparrows in the garden today.

At lunchtime Gary Woodburn rang to say he has seen a large flock of geese land in a field at Dunstan Hill just NW  of Craster. There were two white birds in the flock that looked to be Ross's geese. As this is only 2 miles up the road for me, I was there in 10 mins to join Gary and Mike Hodgson scoping the birds in stubble next to the road.

What a superb mixed flock too. All too often we check goose flocks to find nothing but Pinks or Greylags, but this group consisted of 6 species!

Ross's Geese 2 adult
Tundra Bean Geese 2 ( though Mike did wonder if they were Taiga's, but I didnt think so?)
Eurasian White fronted Geese 5 ( 4 ad and 1 juv)
Barnacle Geese 53+
Greylag Goose 1
Pink footed Geese 600+

After an hour or so they were flushed by farm workers but seemed to drop down slightly further west.

Also here 100+ Fieldfare, 1500+ Woodpigeons and a Buzzard.

Part of the goose flock with the Ross's in the foreground. One Bean Goose is at the top of the geese at the far left hand edge of the photo.