Shore Leave and Bean There, Kent, Sunday 3rd November 2019

After the failed attempt at a Hoopoe but with the salvation of finally year ticking the Red-necked Grebe yesterday, we decided that a "proper" trip out was in order for today. We settled for a journey down to Kent where we'd have the chance of adding at least a couple of species to the year list and with luck, yeah right, even one or two more.

Dungeness is a strange place but fascinating nonetheless and offers superb birding. It is too large an area to do justice in just a few hours though so we were targeting a specific bird and had hopes of securing a second. The previous day had been wild across the entire country but now it was calm and sunny which was a welcome treat at this time of year. A Shore Lark had been entertaining birders close to the fishing boats, a place on the massive pebble and shingle beach where, as it says on the tin, the locals keep their fishing boats, marooned as they are on top of the steeply sloping shoreline. As we pulled up we could see a few birders all staring intently at the same place which would no doubt be where the Shore Lark would be. Before heading over to it though, I studied a group of large Gulls that were loafing next to the road. In the gales of yesterday a Caspian Gull had been seen hunkering down and weathering out the rain but today I could only find Herring and Lesser Black Backed Gulls. My wait for a Caspian Gull this year will go on for a while longer yet. We parked the car and walked the short distance over to where the other birders were and saw the Shore Lark, #280 for the year, feeding along the main track out to the boats.

Shore Lark, Dungeness, 03/11/2019

We had approached the Shore Lark from the "wrong way" and now had the bird between us and all of the other birders. Presumably because there were more of them, they were slowly pushing the Shore Lark towards us. Typically clouds now obscured the sunshine but the subdued beauty of the Shore Lark could still be admired particularly the yellow face with the black bandit type mask around the eyes and bill. We've never seen many Shore Larks before, they are almost invariably birds of the coast, but had seen a group of four in Suffolk at the end of last year (see Larking Around). Previous to that our only encounter with Shore Larks was at Cley in Norfolk a long time ago. We did see the American version that stayed at Staines reservoir for a while during the early months of 2018 (see American Horned Lark) as well. We stayed still and the Shore Lark walked almost right up to us before being startled by a camper van whose driver clearly didn't give a damn for any birdwatchers or birds.

I didn't see where the Shore Lark flew to and failed to capture any flight shots but it was soon located again about fifty metres away at the edge of the track again. Once more the bird seemed totally at ease with ours and the other birders presence and quite happily started feeding, picking seeds from the short grasses and weeds. Unfortunately the bird had been adorned by some unnecessary bling since it had been captured and ringed a few days before. I'm not a big fan of birds being caught in nets and having metal rings placed upon their legs after seeing a poor Barn Owl snared onto a barbed wire fence by it's leg ring which ended badly. I'm pretty sure that enough must be known about the migration routes of most birds by now that a lot of ringing in unwarranted but I grudgingly appreciate that there are others that see things differently. Anyway the Shore Lark didn't seem to be bothered by its jewellery.

The Lark was put to flight again, this time by a dog running amok, begging the question of why can't dog owners keep their dogs in check. Even though I could see that the dog would literally send the bird flying, I still missed the flight shots for a second time! Little bit on the slow side I'm afraid. This time the Shore Lark had flown onto the pebbles and it took a long time until a sharp eyed birder picked it up. The Shore Lark had settled down next to a "sea cabbage" and was surprisingly hard to see. Birds are not plumaged the way that are for our benefit but rather for camouflage when in their favoured habitats.

A whole mini-bus load of birders had walked up and were loudly pointing out the Shore Lark to each other so we headed off towards the beach and the sea to see if we could find anything else. I was amazed to see hundreds of Great Crested Grebes on the sea but after grossing out on them at Rutland while looking for the Red-necked Grebe recently I just couldn't bring myself to photograph any of them! Pied Wagtails scurried after insects on the shingle in and around the fishing boats. One in particular was totally zoned into feeding and didn't seem at all concerned that I was stood just metres away.

Pied Wagtail

Some movement at the shore line caught my eye and I noticed half a dozen Turnstones down there. I didn't walk down the steep bank towards them since I didn't fancy the struggle back up again, walking on the shingle is akin to walking through quicksand! As it happened two of the Turnstones decided to fly up to the top of the shingle bank although they moved rapidly away from us.

Turnstone

We returned back across the pebbles to the car noting that the assembled Shore Lark watchers were all busy searching for it so it must have disappeared for a while. I spotted another group of large Gulls hauled out behind one of the designer shacks that stand in for houses in these parts. I was hoping hard for one of the Caspian Gulls to be part of the group. One small juvenile bird could have been but I couldn't get the bird to wake up! So my photos were of a bird that had its head tucked away and of course as soon as I stored the camera away in the boot of the car, it stood up, stretched and flew off! On reflection later though I decided it was just a small Herring Gull anyway.

Herring Gulls

Our next destination was Stodmarsh near Canterbury about an hours drive north of Dungeness. We were hoping to get another year tick in the shape of a pair of Tundra Bean Geese that had been associating with a large flock of Greylag Geese. For the past few days the flock had been observed from the Reedbed hide on the reserve and the Tundra Beans had been reasonably reliable. We found the carpark tucked away down a small track in the village and walked the few hundred metres to the hide which was empty bar a couple and their two excitable young children. We gazed out at a flock of Greylags containing around a hundred birds and I got to work in trying to sort the Bean Geese out from the masses. I started with the closest birds and spread the search further and wider as I came up with Greylag after Greylag after Greylag. On my third sweep I finally noticed two darker headed and evidently smaller Geese laying down on a hummock and seemingly asleep. They had to be the two Tundra Bean Geese, #281 for the year, but I could only see the back of their heads! 

Tundra Bean Geese, Stodmarsh, 03/11/2019

It took a few minutes but, in response to an over flying Marsh Harrier, one of the birds finally unfurled its head and neck and confirmed that my identification was correct! I've never seen many Bean Geese, these were my first since a pair turned up at Standlake about four years ago, and I have to admit that I hadn't realised that the two types, the other is called Taiga Bean Goose (which I've never seen), had been recently split and afforded full species status. At least we'll have the Taiga variety to go and look for in Norfolk when they return in late November.

Both Geese proceeded to slumber so I looked at the other birds on offer, a Kingfisher whirred past, two Marsh Harriers patrolled the reedbeds and Teal fed in the shallows. But I was here for the Geese so  kept my eyes on them in the hope that they'd wake up properly.

drake Teal

It took about half an hour and just before we were about to get and up and go, when the Bean Geese did at last raise their heads up in unison and begin looking around themselves. The main Greylag flock had become restless and they were flying off in small groups presumably to a feeding site somewhere. Now we could study the birds in more details. The black eyes were set in dark chocolate brown heads and the backs were similarly dark brown (in contrast to the greyer backs of Pink-footed Geese). The bills were black and orange, one bird had a larger bill than the other with much more orange than the other, and there was a narrow white blaze to the base.

The Marsh Harrier returned and one of the Bean Geese finally stood up and started to peck away at the dirt around it. It then walked slowly off towards the water but the other stayed prone on the hummock.  

A few minutes passed and the other Goose must have begun to miss its mate because it also stood up and looked around as if to say, "Where's he/she gone then?". The second bird then very obligingly did a wing stretch allowing me to grab a few interesting shots. Bean Geese are said to be very long winged in comparison to other Geese species and although the wings weren't completely extended they did look quite expansive.

The second Bean Goose was now following the first towards the water and more and more of the Greylags departed across the fields. We could now see the orange legs of the Bean Geese as opposed to the grey ones of the Greylags.

A birder joined us in the hide and looking at me asked if the Bean Geese were about. Another birder who had arrived earlier and appeared to have gained the Geese based on my directions given to Mrs Caley loudly claimed, "Oh, they've just flown off a minute ago!". He had asked me so I replied for his benefit, "No they haven't, they're just walking to the water on the left there!" This was greeted by thanks from the birder who was chuffed since he found the Bean Geese immediately but also with a look of bewilderment from the other who must have mistakenly been thinking that a couple of the Greylags were the Bean Geese and was now frantically trying to find them!

The two Bean Geese swam for a few moments and then turned away from us into a channel that led into the reeds. A few moments later they took to the air and disappeared calling loudly as Geese do. For the third time in the day I messed up the flight shots yet again!

"Bean there...."

It had been a decent day, two year ticks and a good instructive look at a rare Goose species. No luck though, of course!