Arlington Reservoir

Cackling Canada Goose (ssp minima) - Arlington Reservoir

As there have been quite a few Goosander reported in the last few days I thought it was time that I headed to the Res in the evening to do the gull roost and then hope that if there were any Goosander about that they would come in to roost whilst I was checking the gulls.

Bird of the day was a single Woodcock which flew below the dam and in the end headed SW towards the main road. The was my first record at the patch and was very welcome though I suspect it had been flushed up by the guys shooting Snipe on the other side of the road. Whilst I was walking up the access track I could hear a funny sounding goose...I was soooooo hoping it was going to be the White-fronted Goose which was seen last week below the dam. A quick scan of the water produced a few Greylags but they were the only grey geese...gutted. It had stopped calling by the time I reached the dam but soon began again...it was coming from further along the dam wall. I finally found the culprit and it was a Cackling Canada Goose of the form minima! Almost certainly an escape from somewhere but a smart looking bird all the same. After a short time it flew of towards the Cuckmere with 15 Canada Geese and didn't come back in to roost by dark.

Next job was the gull roost, there were lots of small gulls in already with huge numbers of Common Gull streaming in. It was a complete waste of time in the end due to mist rolling in before the bigger gulls had arrived. Highlights were thing on the ground but are below:

Woodcock - 1
Cackling Canada Goose (ssp minima) - 1
Common Gull - 2700+
Black-headed Gull - 1500+
Wigeon - 46
Teal - 107
Tufted Duck - 2


Cackling Canada Goose (ssp minima) - Arlington Reservoir

Cackling Canada Goose (ssp minima) - Arlington Reservoir