Dorset - Puddletown and Bardolf Farm - Not So Wild Geese!

The day had a very grim outlook high SW winds with heavy showers with brief sunny spells thrown into the mix. On the plus side it is still mild for the time of year. I spent the morning doing chores with one eye fixed on the skies around the house.

Geese have been regular commuters over the garden and today was not to disappoint with the sound of honking geese filling the storm filled skies. I made a note to check the key spots on the Water Meadows and then spend the last hour before dusk watching from my garden.

A flock of eleven Greylag Geese passed over the garden mid-morning. I did the rounds on the Water Meadows noting six Egyptian Geese on the pools which are growing with each downpour! The Green Sandpipers were in their usual spot on the sludge tank. Apart from a congregation of gulls there was not much else to report.

I returned home and began my garden vigil. I didn’t have to wait long before an untidy flock of geese headed my way. It was odd that none were calling so I put the camera into action before counting the birds as they passed by. Nineteen Egyptian Geese a new species for the garden!

Not bad but I am close to the water meadows therefore this garden list would be a bit different to the list from my old home! These birds were not on course for the meadows which had me wondering where they were heading. Time ticked on with several groups of Canada Geese total seventy five heading in the same direction as the Egyptian’s.

As I am writing this in the dark (so I can see out of the glass roof to the conservatory!) a total of one hundred and ninety one Canada Geese have headed back S. Both species are introduced to Britain but you can’t beat the sound of geese as they honk their way on their journey. I can only surmise that they roost at Silverlake (Warmwell Gravel Pits) which is roughly S of here! There were no returning Egyptian Geese. I wonder where they could be!

The geese have managed to avoid the Water Meadows but it can’t be long before there is a Goose convention on the now soggy meadows!