The bean goose flock have managed to survive the varied weather that we have had this winter. The cold spells with much frost on the ground did not upset them in any way. Always managing to find grass with exploiting woodland edges. During extreme frost they as usual spent some nights sitting on their feeding areas rather than fly to ice covered ponds. Fortunately one of the preferred roost lochs is quite deep and often contains open water at these times.
In recent weeks a flock of c200 Pinkfeet have been in the same area as our bean goose flock which has often made identification awkward depending on the amount of sunshine and which direction it is coming from when looking through binoculars or telescopes.
We hope to have our flock of around 150 or so birds for a week or two more before they depart to their breeding grounds in Sweden.
We have had a variety of visitors from the south this winter and have managed on occasions to escort some of them when they have arrived at Slamannan.
We had a nice visit from Ashley Cooper from the Lake District who had come to photograph the 'Beans' for a new book on British birds.
Ashley is probably better known for a book he published in November 2016 titled 'Images from a warming planet'.
This is a book about change. About the way that the climate is already changing and the way it will
change even more dramatically in the future. Well worth a read for anyone interested in the natural world. ISBN 978-1-5262-0952-6.
I attach a lovely shot of a small group of bean geese that flew over our heads when out on the plateau. Photo courtesy of Ashley.
