22/02/15 - A few beans

Whilst out on site last Tuesday we were fortunate to find and photograph this flock of four Tundra Bean Geese along with two Pink-feet mixed in with the local (or perhaps not so local) Greylags at Bank Island.

 

There are two races of Bean Geese which visit the UK – the Taiga Bean Goose which breeds on forest bogs in the sub-arctic region and the Tundra Bean Goose which breeds on wet tundra in remote sites in north-western Siberia. The majority of these birds winter in southern Sweden and continental Europe. A total of 400 Taiga Bean Geese winter at two sites in the UK – the Yare Valley in Norfolk and the Avon Valley in Scotland, whilst fewer than 300 Tundra Beans can be found spread across the country.

Bean Geese are similar to the much commoner Pink-footed Goose – differing by having orange, not pink legs and orange patches on the bill, and a darker, almost browny-grey upperwing rather than the light grey upperwing seen on Pink-footed Geese. The Lower Derwent Valley is one of the most favoured sites in the county turning up a small number of birds most years.