The Ross's Goose at Court Lake

Helena went for a fairly long walk with G. along the canal towards Chalford. Having seen that the weather was changing for the worse over the next few days I thought I’d go to Frampton Court's lake to enjoy the peace and quiet with its frenetic springtime bird life. By the time I'd driven the seven miles towards the River Severn spots of rain appeared on the windscreen and dark clouds loomed over the Forest of Dean. I hesitated before getting out to walk to the lake as I hadn’t brought any wet weather clothing with me. I’m glad I waited as a deluge followed very quickly. I had to sit for about thirty minutes waiting for the rain to cease and brighter sky to appear.

As soon as I’d entered the park-like grounds of Frampton Court I could see how much spring growth had appeared since my last visit a week ago. I had it in my mind to find some more goslings to photograph before they grew too large. In fact I saw none and there were less geese on the grounds or the lake than before, which was slightly worrying. It is possible they had gone to the islands to nest safely away from foxes but the competition for space there is enormous  as  swans and oystercatchers have the same idea.

I was delighted to see the newly arrived swallows, martins and swifts swooping low over both the lake and the meadows in the quest for insects. I prepared myself for my annual ritual of tracking fast moving small birds. I managed to get some good results with quite close aerial shots of sand martins and swallows.

I went looking for the goslings again and walking beside the lake I got into conversation with a family who were obviously out for an afternoon’s exercise.They asked if I’d seen any interesting birds and I truthfully said ‘nothing unusual’. The mother then said that the Ross’s Goose was over on the far side of the park and she pointed it out. I’d read on a local bird watching website that one had been seen here for some days, but I hadn’t realised that actually it is a quite rare sight. The Ross's Goose, or white snow goose, actually resides in North America, where it is fairly common. How it came to fly across the Atlantic is a telling question. I’ve done some quick searches and it seems that a few are kept as garden pets in the UK, so perhaps one escaped. 

This bird was actually enjoying the company of three barnacle geese which are normal residents at this lake. They actually flew together around the lake at one point. After I’d filmed this image the goose flew out over the lake and circled one of the islands before landing close to its shoreline near to some barnacle geese. I decided to record this sighting as my blip today rather than the more dynamic picture of a sand martin, as I may never see one again.