Normal winter service resumed today after a month when first the Barred Warbler and then the long holiday break brought about a birding footfall more akin to the migration seasons. A fairly mundane list from the day included 9 Red-throated Divers, a Black-throated Diver and a Great Skua through off the Bill, 3 Purple Sandpipers and 2 Blackcaps still about on the land there, the Black Guillemot still off Portland Castle and 2 Pale-bellied Brent Geese at Ferrybridge.
Brent Geese - Ferrybridge, 5th January 2015 © Debby Saunders
...thanks to Debby for bringing the Brant look-alike at the front of this group to our attention - evidently it was present at Ferrybridge yesterday as well as this morning; it's likely just an extreme Dark-bellied Brent but the presence of a few faint streaks of white between the neck patches, as well as the relatively bold flank patch, perhaps hint at some lurking Brant genes.
