Geese in the gloom

 It was at 06.35 hrs, this morning, as I was getting into the van prior to driving to work that I heard the wonderful sound of White-fronted Geese somewhere out in the darkness. What a result - BWKm0 species 36 - I was overjoyed to add this to my list. What was even more weird is that, once at work, another guy came over to tell me that he had heard "some geese?" calling in the darkness as he'd left home. That Chris Hindle has photographed six "Russian" White-fronted Geese, at Reculver, is just too much of a coincidence for them not to be the same birds. Too be fair I'd settle for that but oh no! Eight hours in the factory elapsed and I returned home only to see two "grey geese" flying over the Newlands farmland. I grabbed the camera and rushed out into the back garden. Fortunately for me they did a circuit, thus allowing me to grab four very grainy ISO 1600 1/320th sec images of these birds. Not a sound, no binocular views, I have to rely on the digital images for my identification. 

So where do I start? Bean Geese, of that I'm sure, Taiga Bean Geese? Well that's my gut feeling. Bean Goose is a garden tick, whatever, although I do have both races (species?) on the Newlands patch list. It is the head shape, with an elongated beak which sways my thinking. 

So the BWKm0 (Mk II) list now stands at 37 species and I'll settle for that. Will these birds also turn up at Reculver? Any comments would be very welcome. I am always willing to take on board other view points, especially when such subtle nuances are in the mix.