Canada Geese

Chris and I finally managed to get our trip to the coast, part of our joint birthday celebrations. Originally we'd hoped to go over to Norfolk, but our time was limited, so we headed up to Frampton Marsh on the Lincolnshire coast, which is about half the travelling time.

It was still icy when we arrived, and the birds were rather hunkered down, although there were the usual large number of Wigeon and Brent Geese, grazing quietly on the freshwater and salt marsh respectively. I added plenty of new birds to my year list including a magnificent Pintail (see extra), a single Pink-footed Goose, three White-fronted Geese, Curlew, Meadow Pipit, Skylark, a Peregrine and a Merlin, though the latter was only seen quite briefly and at a distance.

The best light arrived in the middle of the day, when we were close to the Visitor Centre - the favoured haunt of numerous Greylag and Canada Geese. Although the latter are not native to the UK, they are really very magnificent birds. In urban areas they are sometimes considered to be a nuisance as they gather in large numbers and can cause nutrient enrichment of water bodies. But here, on the marsh, they somehow fit into the landscape, grazing comfortably alongside our indigenous wildfowl.