Dorset - Puddletown Water Meadows - Whitefronts on the Meadows!

The festive season has paled into insignificance as news of my mum’s hospitalization an hour spent with her on Xmas day could be the last time we are in company as covid-19 has now reached the ward! Life at the moment is a complete blur but it is important to remain focused and motivated as life goes on even in difficult times!

Last year on Xmas day I found a White Fronted Goose on what I guess I can now call my local patch Puddletown Water Meadows. I have recorded 81 species on the meadows with 90 species along the River Piddle Valley. As soon as the gates are raised and the fields flood it is time to keep an eye on the area as wildfowl pile into the area.

This afternoon I noticed higher numbers of Canada (243) and Greylag (13) Geese on the meadows. The regular Egyptian Geese were notably absent! The rain was chucking it down but as I scanned the geese beyond a tree line I locked on to a couple of Whitefronts that were not photographable and were tricky too get good views of.

After changing position several times I moved further down the road to view the open fields from the road-side. The geese were now moving closer and I put the camera to work. I put news out and contacted Peter Coe who joined me to secure better shots of the birds.

There were three adults with heavy black barring under the belly and possibly a younger adult with less obvious barring (above left)

The above picture shows all four birds that were feeding amongst the masses of Canada Geese.

There seems to be a mini influx of this species in Dorset with birds present at Charminster Water Meadows and Hampreston Church in the fields behind Longham Lakes.

Dorset - Upton and Longham - Wandering Wildfowl!

The holiday season is upon me with my level of soccer taking a well earned break. Fingers are obviously crossed that we can return in the New Year but I guess that remains to be seen with the current levels of covid-19 infections sweeping across the country. I will continue to tick over on the training front but will have more time to zoom around the county should rarities turn up!

I keep an eye on the water meadows and the cress beds but have not had much to report in recent times. Last Xmas day I did have a White-fronted Goose on the water meadows.

Today’s excursion took me in search of winter wildfowl in the form of Tundra Bean Geese that had found their way onto a field within Upton Country Park. The three birds were quite relaxed feeding on the grass filled field.

I bumped into Peter Coe at the gates and during our ramblings (mostly mine!) the Whooper Swan at Longham Lakes was mentioned. The reserve is currently closed due to an outbreak of bird flu but geese including some Whitefronts could be viewed from a footpath near Hampreston Church.

My eyes lit up as Whooper Swan is another county tick for me and naturally Whitefronts are always a welcome sight. Pete kindly said he would show me where the birds were and off we went in convoy reaching the church mid-afternoon.

There were plenty of geese and swans in the field with the Whitefronts fairly easy to pick up during some long distance scanning. I picked up the Whooper Swan after a couple of searches through the Mute Swans. Peter jumped in with his supersonic camera and I took shots with my phone through the back screen.

A productive day with a couple of additions to the yearlist both of which were new species for my county tally! Thanks Pete!