White fronted Goose, Exmouth Devon

 

White fronted Goose - Anser albifrons.  This is a juvenile of the European race which bred in Russia. This bird has yet to develop the white mask on the face which gives the bird it's name.

 

I have a gallery of  Devon Birds which so far it contains 181 different species (all photographed in Devon of course). I am always trying to add to it which I did today. Matt Knot, an Exmouth birder, had reported seeing a White Fronted Goose in a very large field of beet close to Orcombe Point between Exmouth and Littleham.  Orcombe Point is on the coast and it is a good spot for migrants but Matt tells me that this  field is not particularly fruitful normally.  Having said that though, he did have a Stone Curlew in this very field a couple of years ago!  I  visited this site  twice before I could add White Fronted Goose  to the gallery.  It wasn't easy but in the end, with a degree of perseverance, I was successful today.  I positioned myself next to a gate which gave me a good look over most of the field but it didn't matter how much I looked through mu binoculars, I just couldn't see it.  As it happened, Matt Knot suddenly arrived on the scene and assured me that, although we couldn't see it, he was sure that it was somewhere there amongst the beet.  After Matt had left I felt it was worth waiting and watching because I was sure that it was there somewhere amongst the crops. I kept scanning the field and then suddenly..... there it was.

I was very pleased and I watched it for a while, wondering how I was going to get a shot of it.  Suddenly and absolutely amazingly, it took to the air and flew towards me and landed nearer to the gate but close to the hedge line further up the field after circling in front of me. .  Matt had told me that it was OK to go in to the field as long as I stuck to the edge so in I went  and sticking close to the edge,  got much closer to the bird that didn't seem in the least bit disturbed by me anyway .  It continued to feed and even moved closer to me as I sat in the mud in the hedge  looking towards it feeding on the leaves of the beet.  I finished up with some tremendous pictures..... and now the gallery has 182 different Devon species!

White Fronted Geese are a small geese. They breed either in Greenland or Russia.  Both species can be separated, Greenland Birds are smaller and have a pink beak whereas the Russian sub-species Albifrons has an orange beak and is apparently darker and slightly larger. The bird here is Albifrons, the European species but it is a juvenile bird and is yet to develop the white feathers on the face for which it is named. 

 

It walked around the little patch of beet looking for the most succulent leaves.

At one point it just sat down and looked very contented, surrounded by food as it obviously is.

Sometimes it was really close to me, I find if you sit still and keep quiet, it's amazing what you can achieve.

....... and it just kept eating, those leaves must be very tasty.

 

 

Eventually it took off, circled the field and land in front of me again.