What an amazing session! This was my 99th visit of the year to Nethergong and anyone bashing a patch week in and week out will know that for most of the time, it can be hard work...but just occasionally, you find a good bird or two. Today was one of those memorable sessions. With a flock of Pink footed Geese being seen the past few days and not having seen them on the patch, I was keen to see whether I could get lucky and hope they flew over. I arrived just before 6am and went and stood alongside the wood in the growing light to see whether any Woodcock would fly into roost. Luck was on my side as the familiar silhouette of a Woodcock flew over and into the wood. A Tawny Owl was also heard as was a Snipe. With the light picking up, I then walked around to the lake to see whether anything good was to be seen. 

A quick scan revealed some Mandarin, and excellent bird for here but they soon moved behind the Island. I decided to wait for the light to pick up to see whether I could get any photos but before that could happen, an amazing 10 Mandarin took to the air and circled briefly before flying off south. Feeling quite pleased with that, I suddenly found myself listening to Geese and quickly picked up on a c60 Pink footed Geese (128) flying towards Grove Ferry in the early morning light. This was a new species for the site and pleased to have added this species to the patch list. I had just recovered from this when from the north, 6 Egyptian Geese (129) flew in and nearly landed but carried on south, only to return and fly north a few minutes later. This was shaping up to be a good morning.

Pink footed Geese at sunrise

Egyptian Geese

I carried on walking around the site and off to check the fields on Chislet Marshes where a while later, I could hear the Pink footed Geese again which look like they had just taken off from one of the fields. They flew directly towards me calling and showed well for me to grab a few photos before flying off south again. I was able to count 68 Pink footed Geese as they seemed to drop down again south of the A28.

Pink footed Geese

I continued on where not long after adding 1 Great Black backed Gull (130), I could see a distant flock of geese flying east over St Nicholas at Wade church. Despite the distance, I took a few photos to see what they were. It wasn't till I got home and checked that I could see that a few were Greylag Geese but also in with them was 1 Canada Goose (131), 2 Hybrid Geese and 5 Barnacle Geese (132), the latter being a new bird for the patch. Despite their distance away, I was on the patch viewing them so I will happily add them to the list. Despite their questionable origin, I would like to think that they come in with the Pink footed Geese but I have them on other lists, so why not add them.

 This was turning out to be an excellent session and other birds noted included 12 Greylag Geese, 36 Mute Swan, 1 Gadwall, 1 Coot back for the winter, 1 Green Sandpiper, c200 Cormorant, 1 Sparrowhawk, 1 Marsh Harrier, 2 Common Buzzard, 1 Kingfisher, 2 Great spotted Woodpecker, 1 Green Woodpecker, 1 Jay, 1 Kestrel, 2 Raven, 18 Skylark, 1 Goldcrest, c600 Starling, 1 Mistle Thrush, c56 Redwing, 4 Fieldfare, 6 Stonechat, 1 Grey Wagtail, 7 Meadow Pipit, 3 Bullfinch, c80 Linnet, 1 Siskin and 6 Reed Bunting. 

Pink footed Geese

With a number of Hawfinch moving through at the moment and most of my time during the week working, I decided to leave the recorder out during the day on Thursday to see if anything could be heard. Despite no Hawfinch heard, I was surprised by the number of species recorded during the day. Other than all the commoner species, there was Raven, Bullfinch, Siskin, Meadow Pipit, Jay, Tawny Owl to name a few. A visit Saturday morning in overcast conditions produced 3 Greylag Geese, 11 Mute Swan, 4 Gadwall, c45 Stock Dove, 1 Lapwing, 1 Snipe, c43 Black headed Gull, 2 Common Gull, 42 Cormorant, 1 Marsh Harrier, 3 Common Buzzard, 1 Little Owl, 1 Kingfisher, 1 Kestrel, c45 Jackdaw, c107 Rook, 2 Raven, 22 Skylark, 4 Cetti's Warbler, 6 Long tailed Tit, 1 Goldcrest, 1 Treecreeper, c324 Starling, 1 Meadow Pipit, 21 Chaffinch, 1 Brambling, 1 Bullfinch, 3 Greenfinch, 1 Corn Bunting and 2 Reed Bunting. Nocmig recording Saturday night was again quiet, just a few Redwing calls heard. 

A visit this morning in sunny still conditions produced 2 Greylag Geese, 2 Gadwall, 1 Lapwing, 51 black headed Gull, 119 Cormorant, 1 Grey Heron, 1 Common Buzzard, 1 Barn Owl, 1 Kestrel, 1 Peregrine, 2 Ring necked Parakeet, 5 Jay, c45 Jackdaw, c245 Rook, 2 Raven, 21 Skylark, 3 Cetti's Warbler, c650 Starling, 7 Song Thrush, 2 Redwing, 10 Stonechat but despite searching, no accompanying Dartford Warblers unfortunately. There was 1 Grey Wagtail, 1 Pied Wagtail, 3 Meadow Pipit, 28 Chaffinch, 1 Brambling, 11 Bullfinch, 8 Greenfinch, 2 Siskin, 9 Corn Bunting, 1 Yellowhammer and 4 Reed Bunting. With the camping season over now, I have been busy making my feeding station in the woods where I have already seen a few Jays visiting. Weather permitting, I might try and get the hide out and try a session to see if I can photograph them next week.  

A rather wet trip Saturday morning from 07:00 produced 42 Cormorant, 1 Grey Heron, 1 Common Buzzard, 1 Great spotted Woodpecker, 2 Green Woodpecker, 1 Kestrel, 2 Jay, c50 Rook, 2 Raven, 10 Skylark, 3 Swallow west, 1 Chiffchaff, 10 Long tailed Tit, 1 Goldcrest, c750 Starling, 1 Stonechat, 1 Meadow Pipit, 49 Chaffinch, 1 Bullfinch, 2 Greenfinch, 23 Linnet, 1 Lesser Redpoll, 1 Corn Bunting and 1 Reed Bunting. I had a good walk around the area this morning, checking out a few new sites that I don't often walk to in the hope a few birds might be located during the winter months. In an increasing strong wind which made birding quite challenging, I noted 11 Greylag Geese, 20 Mute Swan, c200 Stock Dove, 9 Cormorant, 1 Grey Heron, 2 Marsh Harrier, 1 Sparrowhawk, 2 Common Buzzard, 1 Little Owl, 1 Kingfisher, 1 Green Woodpecker, 2 Kestrel, 1 Merlin zipping low south through the fields, 1 Peregrine, 1 Ring necked Parakeet, 2 Jay, 147 Rook, 11 Skylark, 28 Swallow west, 3 House Martin west, 2 Chiffchaff, 3 Cetti's Warbler, 1 Blackcap, 3 Goldcrest, c600 Starling, 2 Mistle Thrush, 8 Song Thrush, 6 Stonechat, 1 Grey Wagtail, 1 Pied Wagtail, 15 Chaffinch, 4 Greenfinch, 3 Linnet, 5 Goldfinch, 5 Corn Bunting and 4 Reed Bunting. Nocmig recording Friday and Saturday night again proved very quiet with Grey Partridge, Little Owl and a few Redwing calls heard.