Monday 3 March 2014

Taiga Bean research

Well, Cambridgeshire was only an hour or so away from Norfolk and I planned to do a little research into Taiga Bean Goose - there were two at Cambridge Research Park which would hopefully save the day?

I arrived in a torrential downpour and after sitting it out, explored a little and found the lake which I presumed was their usual haunt? Problem was, there were no geese there!

With cumulonimbus billowing nearby, a walk was called for - I'd read they were sometimes in a nearby field? After walking round the lake I spotted another birder and he was scoping something!
He was of course scoping a flock of Geese, mostly Greylags but with the two Beans in tow! They weren't exactly getting on and the Beans were generally dishing out aggro!


The orange legs shone out but were often obscured from view by the grass.  Size-wise, they were just slightly smaller than the Greylags.  Here's a comparison shot and just look at the extensive orange on the bill of the Bean Goose! Much more than on Tundra Bean and whilst they aren't split, I was unwrapping a Tunnocks to celebrate - my first Taigas!


I won't bore you with too many images (which all look the same!!) A couple of shots of the two together....




And finally the two individuals, cropped more closely.




With a few drops of rain starting to fall again, it was time to put the equipment away and do battle with the motorways! Tundra Beans had saved the day......