Wildfowl wonders of the Trent Valley

Having missed my WeBS count last week because of the BTO/Notts Birders conference, I headed out to Girton Pits this morning to do it. There were plenty of Tufties (421, mainly on the A1133 Pit), plus 114 Gadwall (a good total for this site) and 19 Goldeneye, as well as unspectacular numbers of other wildfowl and a single Green Sand. 

I knew things were bad when I started scrutinising a Canada Goose on North Pit; marginally smaller than the other 5 Canada's it was with (and perhaps also proportionately shorter necked?), it had a darker, buffish breast (contrasting with the bright off-white breasts of the other 5) and an apparently slightly narrower and duskier cheek patch. It lacked any other notable features such as white at the base of the neck sock or black throat line. I'm under no illusions that it was anything other than a feral Canada, but it was quite interesting (in a slightly desperate kind of a way); having done some googling tonight though, I'm not much clearer about what it actually was in terms of its racial origins. 

Canada Goose of interest - front right

Showing differences in breast colour and cheek patch shape/colour

Smaller, and perhaps shorter necked on the water

I finished my WeBS count as always at Spalford Pit where I bumped into Carl C, who was just packing up and heading off to check out the pig fields at Spalford village. I decided instead to go to Collingham, having not been for a week. This was probably a mistake, as Carl had an adult Med Gull and 1, if not 2 Twite at the pig fields; the best I could muster at Collingham was 2 Redshank on the Silt Lagoon and at least 15 (maybe up to 30) Tree Sparrows in a wild bird strip (no Brambling/Little Bunting/Pine Bunting). 

This afternoon, we then had a walk at Budby Heath - we'd just arrived when Carl called to say he was back at Spalford Pit and had what looked like a female/immature Ring-necked Duck! I made do with 40-50 Lesser Redpolls and a few Brambling. 

Carl's pics above; the bird was apparently browner in real life. I'd like to see the head shape better, and there is always the spectre of a hybrid to consider, but on balance I think it looks good as a RND. Unfortunately, Carl was beaten by poor light and wont be able to look for it again until Tuesday at the earliest, and I'm going to struggle to get out there before next Saturday, so if you're passing, go have a look.