DARK-BELLIED BRENT GOOSE IN THE HODDER VALLEY

Dark-bellied Brent Goose, Burholme, East Lancs

It was a relief to relocate yesterday’s East Lancs mega a few hundred metres downstream next to the large flood at Burholme and I spent the next few hours watching it between sleet showers, joined by the Breaks family, Gareth, Russell and Ian. The goose was associating loosely with Mallards, grazing the short turf of the flood plain here. It also flapped its wings and flew a couple of times, showing a couple of feathers missing in the right wing. Maybe it has been shot at? I would have thought such a bird would have attracted more attention but I am still a Johnny-come-lately to ELOC listing. Also of note here were: Eurasian Wigeon; Eurasian Teal; Goosander (two); Common Buzzard (at least three); Common Oystercatcher; Greater (one) and Lesser (three) Black-backed, Common and Black-headed Gulls and a Mistle Thrush with several Fieldfares.

Dark-bellied Brent Goose, Burholme, East Lancs (interesting that it is an adult, lacking white edges to the wing coverts – I wonder why it has turned up here?)

It is obvious that Brent Goose is an extremely rare bird in the ELOC recording area with only five previous records mentioned in ‘The Birds of Lancashire and North Merseyside’: Hurst Green/Clitheroe (six, race unknown) January 1979; Rowley Lake (two, pale-bellied) January 1989; Hurst Green (pale-bellied) March 1996; Altham (race not stated) 1998 & Rishton (dark-bellied) December 2004. Margaret also told me there is an old unpublished record of a small flock from the Calder Foot area and White et al mention five other inland records elsewhere in Lancashire. There has been a small influx of Dark-bellied Brent Geese to inland sites this winter with birds still present in Gloucestershire, Hertfordshire and Worcestershire in the last week. We are fortunate to have been able to see the Hodder Valley bird. It was first found at Stocks Reservoir, a week ago by John Metcalf but owing to an IT breakdown the news did not get out until after it had gone. It then went missing until yesterday when it was seen on a roadside flood pool north of Burholme Bridge at 1115 but again, inexplicably, the news was released too late. I have birded this good-looking area many times over the last few years but this is the first rarity I have seen here. I could not have guessed it would be Brent Goose!

From top: The saying goes that you can never find a poor farmer - Brian Breaks even keeps a pot of gold under his cap; Rainbow over New Hey and bottom: a snowy Upper Hodder Valley

I had a quick spin around the local patch and up on to the fells in the vain hope of a Snow Bunting but there was little of note in the bad weather, not even a Red Grouse, all no doubt keeping their heads down. Instead all I could manage was around 200 Fieldfares and a Common Kestrel at Wood House Gate. Finally back closer to home the Trumpeter Swan was by the Ribble below Ribchester School and a juvenile Great Black-backed Gull was patrolling the river.