Richardson's Cackling Goose & Lesser Scaup at Clifton Pits, Worcestershire

I have history with Richardson's Cackling Goose, having previously dipped it on two occasions. The first was down on the Exe estuary on the way back from Cornwall; the second was on a trip up to Durham on a daughter University run. Two dips I think is certainly enough to qualify as a bogey bird so I was keen for my revenge. Now, usually they are only to be seen in the winter up in far flung places like Scotland which makes twitching them difficult. So when one turned up initially in Shropshire this certainly picqued my interest. This bird wasn't really twitchable and soon moved on. However, it then turned up in neighbouring Worcestershire where it proceeded to move around between several sites, never staying too long in any one of them. Despite the relative proximity, somehow I never got to the point of pulling the trigger and going for it. It then disappeared for several weeks and I assumed that I had missed my chance. However at the start of the week it turned up again at Clifton Pits where it was reported on a more or less daily basis. The last piece of the puzzle fell into place on Saturday when my younger daughter wanted to host some friends at our place and hinted that her parents might like to be out of the house for the afternoon. That was the final push I needed so that afternoon I set the Sat Nav coordinates for Clifton Pits and sallied forth. The drive was an hour and a half along the familiar route west along the A40 to the M5 and then heading northwards and turning off onto the A38. 

Just as I turned off this road into Clifton I saw a car driving ahead of me. I couldn't help but wonder if this was someone else twitching the Cackling Goose. The driver was getting ready just as I arrived and turned out to be a local birder coming to visit his patch for the afternoon. We started chatting and he turned out to be very friendly and helpful. He set off ahead while I donned all my winter clothing as the weather had turned wet and very windy - it was freezing!  

Clifton Pits: park at the arrow by the gate

I soon caught up with my guide for the day, scanning the North Pit where the Richardson's Cackling Goose was usually reported. With a scan of my bins I quickly picked it out of the flock of about fifty or so Canada Geese - it was standing right at the front where its diminuative size was readily apparent compared to its larger cousins. 

My first view of the Richardson's Cackling Goose on the North Pit

My companion commented that often on the bank it can be surprisingly hard to spot the smaller size and as I looked through the other birds I could certainly see what he meant. Some of them were tucked up asleep on some small islands and it would have been a nightmare to try to work out which bird it was if it hadn't been standing in such a prominent position. I took some digiscoped video and was just feeling very smug about such a quick conversion of my target when it and one Canada Goose took to the air and flew off to the far side of the Main Pit to our left. Again, had I arrived a bit later than I had done, I would have spent a long time fruitlessly searching for the bird in amongst the Canadas so I once again thanked my lucky stars that things had worked out as well as they did.

Cackling Geese are part of the difficult complex that makes up Canada Geese and over the years have been split in different ways. They were originally subspecies of Canada's before becoming species in their own right. There are four subspecies of Cackling Goose, the nominate Richardson's, Taveners, Small (minima) and Aleutian. To make matters more confusing, there are other small Canada Geese such as Todd's which are considered subspecies of Canadas themselves rather than Cackling Geese.

So what of this bird's credentials? It had first arrived in Shropshire as part of the eastern wild goose influx that brought so many Russian White-fronted and Tundra Bean Geese to our shores. Now, superficially this is the wrong direction for a nearctic Cackling Goose but I subsequently learned that there is a feral Category C population of this species on the continent and that this bird is almost certainly from there. That makes it eminently tickable and the Gnome Rarities Committee has already approved this bird. Of course it would be nice to see a genuine nearctic vagrant but in the meantime, this would certainly do.

Apart from the star bird there were about a dozen or so Egyptian Geese, plenty of Oystercatchers and at least a 100 hirundines, mostly Sand Martins with a few Swallows and one or two House Martins, all hawking low over the water in the fierce wind. A Redshank and a few other bits and bobs completely the birdage on the North Pit. As we chatted, my companion and I compared notes about inland water body patches - it was interesting to hear about the similarities and differences about the sort of birds that turned up here compared to Port Meadow back home.

North Pit where the Richardson's Cackling Goose usually hangs out

We then moved a short distance down to the shoreline of the Main Pit. There we scanned along the shore to avoid looking into the strong sunlight that had now appeared after the rain shower had passed. My companion told me that there were a pair of Lesser Scaup there which we soon picked out. What's more, it was thought that they were the same pair that I'd seen at Helston in Cornwall back in February as they appeared the day the Cornwall birds disappeared. Quite remarkable to see the same birds in two different locations so far apart in the same year! Apart from these ducks, there were a pair of Avocet, a Little Ringed Plover, a Common Sandpiper and a White Wagtail.as well as lots more hirundines.

The much larger Main Pit, looking into the sun. You can see there is some flooding still which meant it was larger than usual

A digiscoped video grab records shot of the two Lesser Scaup

 

After that we worked our way west along the shoreline, meeting up with another birder and helping him get on the Lesser Scaup. I refound the Cackling Goose on the far side of the Main Pit, hanging out with a few Canada Geese. When some dog walkers approached the geese moved onto the water. As my friend had suggested, when it was out swimming it was much easier to determine the size difference - it looked tiny compared to its cousins when on the water. 

 

Digiscoped video grab - showing the size difference nicely

 

 

Above and below out on the water

 

Some more searching, mostly from my companion who was compiling an eBird day list, turned up some more Little Ringed Plover, a Ringed Plover and serveral Yellow Wagtails. All in all, there was some good birds to accompany the star attraction and I was feeling very pleased with the fruits of my afternoon's sortie. 

As time was getting on I decided to leave and bade my companion for the afternoon goodbye. I then headed back to the car and started for home. I did try to stop in at a local garden centre to score a cup of tea but their cafeteria had closed for the day. So I girded my loins and headed on tealess back home to Casa Gnome, arriving back just before 7pm, very pleased with trip and a shiny new revenge tick under my belt.