Geese moving on the Solway ... thousands of Pinkfeet and a Tundra Bean

With thousands of Pinkfeet moving up to the Solway from the Lancashire goose fields in recent days there is always the prospect of something interesting ... I checked Walby and found around two thousand Pinkfeet along with 55 Whooper Swans on the hill behind the flash ... always partly obscured behind the hedges and trees the geese were nervous with necks frequently extended and constantly on the move ...

... one bill pattern caught my attention ... as the goose moved the orange legs came into view ... the brown mantle colour contrasted with the frosty grey of the Pinkfeet and the wide sub-terminal tail band showed up ...

... as the Bean Goose turned its head the bulging lower border to the proximal part of the lower mandible was noticeable and confirmed this as a Tundra Bean Goose ...

... between Easton and Boustead Hill several thousand more Pinkfeet fed in the rough fields calling mutedly and occasionally circling to land again in the small fields ...  between Lessonhall and Oulton another three thousand Pinkfeet occupied the low fields along with eight Barnacle Geese ... a fantastic spectacle as the birds rose to relocate with their evocative high pitched calls coming through the still air in the almost-spring sunshine ...