Taiga Bean Goose (2), Various locations in East Norfolk (Waxham, Sea Palling, Clippesby and Walcott from Dec 8 2018 into Jan 2019 when at Walcott, Happisburgh, Horning, Waxham and Sea Palling) T. E. Allwood and A.J. Kane.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was a blustery but bright early afternoon and I was at Waxham going through a decent-sized flock of Pink-footed Geese for anything unusual. Viewing was tricky as several birds were in a grass field at about 400-500 m distance while the closer birds were in extremely long dry grass and only the heads and necks were visible.

​

After about 20 mins, I got onto a couple of birds in the distant grass field that were immediately eye-catching. They looked very large and ponderous, with long snake-like necks, and long thin-looking bills with a good deal more orange than I was expecting from a Tundra Bean Goose. I called Andy Kane right away, stating that if they weren’t Taiga Beans I would be amazed. I quickly got some record shots that would seal the deal and waited for Andy. We both watched the geese for a good while and it was readily apparent that they were indeed Taigas on both plumage and structure. Over the next few weeks I encountered the birds at several sites and got some good photographs.

​

Structurally, the birds were clearly at least 10% larger than the accompanying Pinks, with one individual larger than the other, so presumably a male and female. The heads were wedge-shaped, like a Whooper Swan, with an almost concave culmen and flat lower mandible as opposed to the thicker, shorter bill of a Tundra, with a bulging lower mandible. The pattern of orange on the bills was much more in accordance with Taigas than the usual narrow band on a Tundra. A small amount of white around the bill base was another good feature, more visible on one bird than the other. The terminal white on the tail was slightly wider than a Tundra (another little know good pointer) and the legs lacked some of the vibrancy and brightness of a typical tundra. Both birds walked with a clear swagger. Taiga Bean Geese are extremely rare away from the Yare valley and I have been looking out for them for a long time. I found, photographed and had one accepted at Horsey in 2016 but otherwise all records since 2000 are:

​

• Waxham-Horsey Oct 29-30 and Nov 5 2001

• 2 Eccles Nov 3 2001 

• Horsey Mar 17 2006

• Horsey Jan 24 2016

 

A selection of photographs showing the salient features is included below. Photos not taken by me are attributed under the pic. Many thanks to the photographers. 

​