Goose Chase 2 (The Return) (this time Margie's in charge!!)

 With yesterday's fiasco fading into memory (see yesterday's post, be warned a tale so sad you may need a whole box of tissues to get through it😭) I decided another crack at the Geese on Iford Brooks was in order, fairly latish start, as I recovered from the aches and pains of yesterday's superyomp and also we had to have breakfast,(apparently)  Margie had decided to supervise proceedings so was ready to go at about 8-45am. Thanks' to the good people of Facebook I now knew where we were going, information that had been readily available for over a week had I bothered to look, but hey-hoe you live and learn!! Although as Margie quite often says "You never learn" she also says "You never listen" quite a bit, possibly needs to work on her catchphrases!😀 

On arrival at Iford Church we parked in the church car park, good to see, Weir Wood's most prolific birder heading up the track as we arrived, having someone present who knows what they are doing could make separating the various Geese a whole lot easier!! Kitted up for the lovely weather, gorgeous blue skies and bright sunshine, what a difference a day makes! We headed up the track, we passed some birders who confirmed the birds as present , approx 1/2 a mile up the track, this turned out to be optimistic as was at least a mile, more blooming walking. Now  Margie has a multitude of good points that I won't list here, but fast walking ain't one of them, she was as she put it, enjoying the surroundings as we ambled along, stopping to take scenic pictures on the way(she would later describe it as a "Route March") Now had these been a lifer I would have forgone the niceties and ploughed on ahead,I have been know to run, or at least my approximation of it, on these occasions, however  it wasn't so I didn't, instead, getting ahead, waiting, getting ahead waiting etc, much like an enthusiastic spaniel constantly having to go back and see where the humans have got to😂, Geese anxiety was kicking in!!! However we soon reached the site where a few birders were leaning over their scope and after some anxious scanning following their directions, all three species were spotted. Hurrah, whoop, whoop, etc!!!!!!! Unfortunately they were quite distant, under some bushes and in and out of ditches so pictures are basically pants!

Lewes Castle by Margie

The long road to Goose heaven by Margie

Robin by Margie

The below pics are of the Geese, although through the scope it was possible to split the three species the taking off pictures was very much hit and miss and consisted of pointing the camera in the general direction of where I thought the Geese were and firing away, so the ID's are what I think the  birds are, from looking at the pictures and my memories of what I was looking at when I took the pictures, rather than in the field, where as said previous, ID-ing was much easier through the scope, if anyone thinks different don't hesitate to comment, although as it is back views of 2 of them wont be easy 😀

Pink-footed Goose

The 3 Bean Geese

Greater White-fronted Geese with Canada Goose behind showing size difference

After 30 minutes or so, we mooched back down the track to the bridge over the Celery Sewer, not that much else about although some Meadow Pipits, couple of Reed Buntings, some flyover Pied Wagtails, we were enjoying the sunshine and the views, I tried to get a few pics of Reed Mace, and the other Reeds as did Margie.

Meadow Pipit

Two Meadow Pipits

Reedmace

The Celery Sewer, much prettier than the name would suggest!

Quite pleased with this one, very Arty!

Distant Lapwing Flock

Quiet pleased with this one as well!!

Reed head by Margie

Reeds by Margie

I am reliably informed that this is Ashcombe Mill, above Kingston taken by Margie

Celery Sewer by Margie

And again

Hopefully those pics give an indication of what a nice day it was, also of interest, the flock of Lapwing was spotted and identified  coming over the Downs at great distance by Margie, whose other catchphrase "I'm not a birder" may need revisiting!! 

At this point a small aeroplane flew low over the brooks, sending all the geese up in the air and over the hedge to relocate on a pond in the distance!!

Spooked Geese, some Whitefronts at the bottom 

Relocated Geese on distant pond by Margie

Slowly the Geese began to return to the fields, pleasingly somewhat closer, although still distant, more birders began to arrive, Margie (not a birder) called a Kingfisher in flight, I was to slow for a pic, even though I heard the call and should of been ready! Margie also spotted a Little Egret at approximately a mile distant and a Grey Heron in a reed fringed ditch even further away!!! Not bad for a non-birder, I got in on the act, with a nice Male Marsh Harrier, also massively distant and viewed through the gaps in a hedge, so I think only a couple of the assembled crowd got on it! Meanwhile the Geese kept arriving with the Bean Geese and Whitefronts spotted though I couldn't refind the Pinkfoot, the muddy part of the field also had a lot of Pied Wagtails on it plus Meadow Pipits and Skylarks though to distant for pics! Some slightly better Geese pics below, don't get ya hopes up they are still pants

Incoming Whitefronts

Whitefronts and Greylags

Incoming Bean Geese

and again

Whitefronts

Greylag flypast

And again

So we left the crowd to it and headed back along the path, Margie said she heard a Buzzard so I scanned the skies and sure enough picked up a Raptor, but wait not a Buzzard, our second Marsh Harrier of the day, I thought at first  a  female but now wondering having seen the pictures it may be a 2nd year male, opinions welcomed! Was blooming miles up in the air. Pics below

Marsh Harrier

So mission accomplished good scope views of all three species of Goose though not sure it was worth the 8+ miles walked over the 2 days!!!! But a much better, highly enjoyable day, although worryingly for January I may have got sunburnt!!!😱 

We celebrated by eating the remainder of, what has to be said, was the delicious Organic gooey Flapjack I made yesterday to console myself in failure, cakes are good for all occasions!!

Double Yum!!

Wild Goose Chase!!

 You know when you think you know something, you're a hundred % sure you know something. Then it turns out you didn't know something, well that is the story of today's trip out!! The something I thought I knew was the location of Iford Brooks!! Turns out I didn't! A windy weather forecast made me change my plan of going to Ashdown to look for Woodpeckers and Dartfords, with news of three types of wild Geese, White-fronted, Bean and Pinkfoot at the aforementioned Iford Brooks thought I would have a try for them.

I'd looked on Birdguides seen the area where they were, in my head I said ah Rodmel, then rather than click the directions button I just assumed!! Fatal mistake!! So the plan was park at Southease walk North up the West bank of the River, fighting off Short-eared Owls, Harriers and Kingfishers then scan the fields for the Geese, simple!!! 

Well to cut a long story short, it wasn't simple, Five and a half miles walked, for very little reward, to make things worse after a mile or so I began to doubt my plan but ignored myself!! (Margie says pig headed stubbornness and being always right is one of my most endearing traits). Got to Monk's Cottage, followed the footpath North until it turned into a dead end, at this point I did the google directions turned out I still had one and a half hours walking to do!! At this point I realised that Iford Brooks wasn't where I thought it was!!! 😱

In my defence I have been weakened by my diet, a brutal regime of just 3 meals a day with just 1 cake allowed for pudding!! It has worked from a starting weight of 14 stone 4lb 6oz I'm down to 14st,0lb,2 ozs not bad in 3 weeks hope to hit the 13sts next weigh in and my BMI of 13,3,0 in a month or two. Though achieving my original weight of 7lb3 oz is unrealistic😀😀 (The old ones are the best)

So what did I see, not a lot, couple of Little Grebes on the river, a Kingfisher shot out of the bank below me to quick for pics, were some distant flocks of Lapwing, and plenty of Starlings which whirled about occasionally, Meadow Pipits a couple of Reed Buntings, a big flock of Linnets, 2 pairs of Stonechat and several singing Skylarks but it was hard work, grey weather, birds at distance and me trying to juggle Scope, Camera and Bins made for poor pics, a few of which are below!

Little Grebe

Grey Heron

Starlings

Lapwings

Stonechat

Goldfinch

Stonechat

Robin

Teal, I think

The walk back was as poor as the walk out with the added bonus of having the now very bright sun in my eyes which gave me a headache, to go with the Backache from carrying all my gear so far and the leg ache from walking 5 blooming miles!!!

Back at the car I did what I should of done from the start and did the directions on Birdguides, 14 minutes away!! So off I went, a convoluted route through Lewes and I'm going down some track in the middle of nowhere until I get to the "Party field" where there was a complete lack of parties!! However scanning from here I found some distant Geese, Hurrah!! Trouble was even with the Swaro it was incredibly difficult to ID as was miles away and through a hedge, I relocated up the hill this was even further away but could at least see the Geese, the trouble was with the Sun's position and the distance involved it was pretty much impossible to ID to species, the Greylag's were pretty obvious even at that range with their large Orange beaks, I had a couple of smaller ones but couldn't really be sure and a small flock in flight could have been the White-fronts certainly weren't Greylags. Were a couple of other birders distant where I presume the best place to watch from is, yet scanning around I couldn't work out how to get there and at best it looked like a couple of miles walk and quite frankly I couldn't be arsed so I went home!!😢 

Possibly the worst day out ever!!

Tomorrow is another day!!