I had a couple of really nice walks around Frampton over the weekend. It's great being incognito sometimes because you get to hear honest and I have to say usually very complimentary discussion by visitors about Frampton Marsh! It's funny though as I got thinking about some of the species I saw over the weekend, actually how many of them were really 'wild'....A few weeks ago a little tiny Canada Goose turned up. This it turns out is the sub-species called Cackling (or Lesser) Canada Goose hutchinsii. Now some of these little fellas have turned up in situations where you might think that they actually made it across the pond unaided (as distinct from the other Canada Geese in this country which originate from feral introductions). However, our little chap probably just hopped out over a fence somewhere so I doubt he/she honks with a mid-western accent or anything. I also saw a red-crested pochard (another naturalised species which originated from introductions), two little owls (ditto, although I still find it hard to accept as they 'feel' natural!), two barnacle geese (probably feral) and eight khaki Cambell mallards (probably from someone's garden!). Quite a nice collection really (excuse the pun). Other highlights included some impressive numbers of wigeon (up to 1500), teal (1000), brent geese (1500) and golden plover (2000). No wonder the peregrines keep paying us a visit!
John