Woolmer Pond 27/04/25

 With a few hours free this afternoon, I thought it would be a good idea to go to Woolmer to check if anything interesting was there. Just before leaving, the first House Martins of this year were flying around Liss- always a nice sight. After getting there in just over 13 minutes (a new record with my bike), I scanned over the pond to see if anything was out there. A few Tufted Ducks, Little Grebes, Canada Geese, Coot and Moorhen were obviously visible, with a couple of Goldfinch and Long-tailed Tits around as well. I biked around a bit further towards the cottage, and had another look out over the pond. A large white blob was at the back with the Canada Geese, and I thought to myself, "Mute Swan, great tick for the daylist." Mute Swans are by no means common here, and always a good sight. As I raised my camera for a few photos of the swan, a Crow flew overhead.  After zooming in, the sight that met my eyes was quite a shock. This "Mute Swan" had a lush, bright yellow beak. A few panicked seconds later, I had obtained photos and put the news out- there was a Whooper Swan at Woolmer! 

Although rather distant, right at the back of the pond, it was still easily identifiable, with the yellow on its beak forming a full wedge differentiating it from the similar-looking Bewick's Swan. It was regularly flapping its wings, and I was relieved to see it was fully winged. Constantly splashing in the water and moving about, it seemed a bit wary of the other waterfowl. After around 10 minutes, it climbed up onto the back, where its legs were fully visible- and most notably, unringed. 

Whilst I was looking at it through my binoculars, another smaller shape appeared to the right, a wader of some sort. Knowing waders are always a good sight at Woolmer, I quickly got my camera up to it, and was able to roughly identify it as a Greenshank, another very good bird for Woolmer. 

I managed to get a photo with both the Whooper and the Greenshank in the same photo- not something you would ever expect at Woolmer! The Greenshank is just about visible to the right of this photo.

It seemed pretty settled at the back, so I decided to head over to the cottage to check if anything was there and wait for some locals to arrive. A Garden Warbler was singing, and a few Stonechats and Linnets were about. 

Walking back along the track towards the pond, a few locals had already arrived, and informed me it was the first record of this species on site- very cool to have seen, let alone found! The swan was still sitting at the back of the pond, preening and seeming a bit more settled than it had been earlier. 

Me and a couple of other birders walked around to see if there was a better view from the side of the pond by Longmoor, and to have a chat with another birder who was present. Two Egyptian Geese and their young were around there, and the Whooper was showing well, although still distantly. 

It seemed very settled, and as the flags were up, no one could go in to disturb it. The Greenshank went behind it again, allowing for a few more pictures of the two together.

Such a lovely bird- a more zoomed-out habitat shot here. 

Sadly the flags were put down not soon after, and the dog walkers were soon going around the pond with their dogs, and the bird thankfully just swam a little away, before coming back to its favoured spot. 

A couple more minutes later, it swam out into the middle of the pond to avoid all the dog walkers, luckily not flying away. I biked round to the other side of the pond to see if it was a bit closer, but it swam out of view. Very happy with the time, I decided to head home.