First-winter European White-fronted goose on the patch

 

Spring Birding: Surprise Russian on the patch

First-winter Russian white-fronted goose flying with whooper swans, Cahore marsh, Wexford

After writing an identification piece on sepearting the Greenland and Russian white-fronted geese from an Irish context a few months ago I was then delighted to find a First-winter Russian white-fronted goose had stopped off on my local Wexford patch for a few days. This is the second Russian (European) White-fronted goose I have seen at Cahore to date. The other being and adult in October of 2016 that was an early arrival and mixed with the greylag flock for just one day before likely departing to the Wexford wildfowl reserve were it would mix with the far more common Greenland white-fronted geese flocks for the winter. This is now the around the tenth time I have seen this European subspecies of the Greater white-fronted goose in Ireland. Most of these being in Wexford and one in Wicklow which was also a First-winter. 

I had seen this goose with the whoopers after arriving at Cahore in the early afternoon and viewed from quite a distance. The bird sitting on the water appeared to be a Greenland white-fronted with an obvious orange bill. However it was just the string sunlight and heat haze that suggested this as when I saw the bird later in the afternoon in flight and then again on the water it clearly was no Greenland white-fronted. Myself and Brian Haslam watched the bird flying distantly with the whoopers and you could see the broader white tail edge was quite striking, giving me a good indication that this was in fact a Russian white-fronted. The upper wing was also paler with a hint of a blue hue, short wings and a short neck could also be seen while in fight. As the bird turned it was clear that the bill was extremely short and showed a lot of white around the base of the face. All good indicators for a First-winter Russian white-fronted. The under parts were not well marked and appeared brown throughout, lacking the bold black markings of an adult. When viewing the bird preening the next day I could see the start of some of these bold markings emerging on the belly. 

I had received an email after finding the bird at Cahore Marsh to say that the First-winter Russian white-fronted that had been present all winter on the Gearagh, Co. Cork had left with the whooper swans. The Cahore Russian white-fronted was with whoopers and only whoopers for it's short stay. After comparing some images of the Cork and Wexford bird/s it was quite evident that this is in fact the same First-winter individual! Quite a nice bird to track as it migrants towards Iceland with the whoopers swans for the summer months. Mid Sunday evening and the whoopers accompanied by the Russian white front left Cahore and began their journey north. Perhaps they will be seen again along the way, or maybe the goose will be recorded in Iceland along with it's new found family of whooper swans. 

First-winter Russian white-fronted goose, Cahore marsh, Wexford, 20 March

A digiscoped image taken in strong late afternoon sunlight. Always sticking close to the whooper Swan flock while in the water and feeding on the grasslands. This bird occasionally swam by a mallard on the water and it wasn't much bigger than the duck. Also very short necked and bodied which made it stand out while swimming amongst the whoopers and greylag. 

These digiscoped images show the key features of this First-winter quite well. They include: short pink bill, white around the base of the face, short pale neck, pale brown head, lighter brown upper parts with a blue hue to the wings, far paler than any of the Greenland white-fronted present. The outer tail feathers are broader white than a Greenland white-fronted goose also. Which I have documented in an image below while the bird was dabbling in the water. See the below set of digiscoped images for the bird upside down feeding that shows the tail off . This image was darkened to make the tail stand out. In general the bird was far paler than any Greenland white-fronted geese I've seen in Ireland and would definitely stand out due to this and it's size from a Greenland flock. 

A series of edited digiscoped images over the weekend of this rare Russian vagrant, hope you enjoy. I sure did! Don't forget to check out my identification guide to Greenland and European white-fronted geese in this link: The life of an Irish birder : Winter Birding: Greenland vs Russian white-fronted goose Identification

Thanks to Joe Doolan and John Lynch for information on the Cork birds movements.

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