After a weekend of sport it was time to focus on my
September challenge so I took to the road with the aim of covering some local
sites before the rain came in! I checked in at Canons Farm to find the fields by
Canon’s Farmhouse had been harvested. This area had recently held Whinchat and
Stonechat. I had a wander around for a
couple of hours sifting through the masses of hirundines that were quartering
the fields before heading off to Holmethorpe.
The cloud was closing in fast so I travelled light so I
could cover the key areas. The water level on Spynes Mere had dropped considerably
since my last visit creating several sandy islands that waterfowl and Lapwing
were taking full advantage of! In amongst the masses of geese (over 200 Canada’s)
were a couple of Barnacle Geese that looked very smart resting on one of the
sand islands.
The birds did not have rings but were likely to be from feral
stock. Wild birds tend to arrive for winter and spend time in the North of England
and Scotland. The birds had been present for about a week viz Gordon.
The biggest flock of fifty birds I saw at QE2 reservoir with
Dave Harris and John Allan back in January 2010. There has since been a regular
winter flock that spends its time in the Walton area.
Nothing too exciting today but this
is a species that I have not seen at Holmethorpe before. Will the storm work its magic!
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