BIRDING THE LUNE ESTUARY THE FOREST OF BOWLAND AND BEYOND......................................................MEDITTERANEAN GULLS CONDER POOL PETE WOODRUFF

Tuesday 27 January 2009

Geese and Swans.

This winter so far I found - and was
able to read - six Pink - footed Geese
collars. The geese aren't always near
enough to be able to get to grips with
their marks and can sometimes be on private land, but with a little luck hopefully I may get to see some more to read before they depart for their breeding grounds. The histories are always interesting and often reveal some of these birds really do get about.

Up to now I have not had any luck with the Whooper Swans I've seen and last year by this time I had already read a double figure number of these beautiful creatures. Many is the time I have received a history of the Whooper Swan showing the bird to have been seen in Ireland in Co Donegal/Fermanagh/Londonderry/Tyrone, and then it turns up at Pilling......amazing stuff!

As for the Bewick's Swan......well on 5 Jan 2002 I was a little more than pleased to find two birds together with neck collars which - if I recall correctly - were blue in colour with white markings and read 807P/809P and had been fitted to the birds on 12 August 1996 at Sedui Nos, Korovinskaya Bay in Russia. As can be imagined the history of these two individuals was fascinating and the birds were by now almost six years into their lives bearing neck collars and over this time had visited places in the Netherlands (three location's)/Norfolk (two locations)/Mistertor Carrs in Nott's/and various locations on the Fylde. There was an added interest to these two birds which was revealed from studying the history sheet in that from the date of being marked they were never reported for three years as being seen together until 21 November 1999 when they were recorded at Welney WWT in Norfolk. Meanwhile the wanderings of 807P had taken it to places in Netherlands/Norfolk/Martin Mere/Marton Mere/and Freckleton. I'm not sure I am ever likely to find another bird in my birding life to excite me quite like these two did but here's hoping.

The pic - taken somewhere in the Arnside area one beautiful winter morning - is becoming something of an antique and is the result of my finding employment a 'few' years ago with a car parts supplier as a delivery driver and never imagining the job of work and my then up and coming interest in birds would gel together in a way that made me one of the luckiest 'birders' around with free wheels to every nook and cranny in and out of our area......happy day's which thankfully still continue even though by now I'm about 150 years old!
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