Winter Waterfowl!

Winter Waterfowl!

We arrived at Swine Moor at around 7:40am, with Dave, in hopes of spotting two Snow Geese roosting with the Pink-footed Geese. Once we made our way onto the very windy and exposed bank, we scanned the wetland, only to find all the geese had already left their roost and flown off. Disappointed, we waited around for a while, spotting a few Greylag Geese flying in along with five white Domestic Greylag Geese. Eventually, we gave up and decided to head over to Tophill Low NR. As soon as we arrived at Tophill Low, we made our way over to the main hide and started scanning through the thousands of ducks. It wasn't long until we spotted our first target, a pair of Red-crested Pochards, which were quite close to the hide in amongst a large flock of mixed Aythya ducks. Further out on the reservoir, we spotted many Shovelers, Pochards, Gadwalls, Wigeons, Tufted Ducks, Goldeneyes, Coots, Teals, Great Crested Grebes & Mallards. We then moved on to the second hide, spotting two Bullfinches and a Treecreeper along the way. 

Once we arrived at the second hide, it only took a a few minutes before I managed to spot our second target briefly at the very back of the reservoir. It was the Black-throated Diver! Dave managed to get a brief look through his scope, confirming the sighting, before it dived back down. After multiple scans along the back of the reservoir, we were unsuccessful in getting another look of the Black-throated Diver. Our attention then turned to our third target, the drake Smew. There were currently two reported on the reserve, including one on the reservoir we were scanning. After a very long time scanning, I finally managed to spot the drake Smew close in with a few Tufted Ducks. It then did a few dives, popping up briefly (long enough for me to get a rubbish record shot of it) before diving back down and not being seen again.

We then turned our attention back to the Black-throated Diver, wanting better views and a picture. While scanning for the diver, I managed to spot the drake Smew again with a Coot, further left of where I had last seen it. Then, just as we were about to leave the hide, I spotted the Black-throated Diver close in with a few Great Crested Grebes. It showed well and didn't dive once while we were watching it, allowing me to get a record shot through Dave's scope.

We then started walking towards Watton NR, spotting a Skylark flyover as it was calling. We also stopped off at the two South Marsh East hides and the South Marsh West hide where we spotted a few Curlews, a brief Marsh Harrier and a Great White Egret, but unfortunately we failed to spot the two Jack Snipes which were seen in the morning and also just missed a brief Bearded Tit, seen by another birder in the hide. Once at Watton NR, we noticed lots of Teal and a few close Gadwall, yet no Smew. Suddenly, news of the Snow Geese at Swine Moor came in, so we waited a few more minutes for the Smew to reappear and just as we were about to leave the hide, I spotted the drake Smew at the back of the left hand side pool. Although it kept diving, it didn't move far and was easier to relocate on the smaller, less choppy body of water (which allowed me to get a decent record shot of it). We then hurriedly made our way back to the car park and back to Swine Moor.

We arrived at Swine Moor at around 2:00pm and immediately made our way back onto the windy, cold bank. We started scanning through the many Greylag Geese, when two obvious white blobs appeared. They were our target Snow Geese! Although they were associating with Greylag Geese, they had arrived with thousands of Pink-footed Geese over the Humber. While we were watching the Snow Geese, and waiting for the Pink-footed Geese to come in to roost, we met a birder named Ross, who recounted some amazing charter flight twitches. Eventually, we gave into the gale-force winds and decided to head home.

Overall, a great day with one lifer (Snow Goose) which will likely be my last lifer of 2024!