The Greylag Goose is the bird that all domestic geese are derived from. They are not necessarily all that common in the wild and most that are seen are the descendants of escaped feral geese.  This is quite a confused state of affairs and most birdwatchers do not take a sighting of this species very seriously. This is a shame because they are magnificent big birds and as far as I am concerned more worthy of note than the commonly seen Canada Goose which of course have no right to be here at all and are justifebly hated by most serious bird watchers.
This morning as I traveled through Exminster Marsh on the Chinese Bike I was distracted by the presence of a flock of geese close to the road and amongst the Canadas were two Greylag. They may be feral but as soon as I stopped and climbed of the Chinese machine, off they waddled. I took a few photos though.

As you can see they really are magnificent with immaculate plumage and  subtle colours.
Later on as I watched a large flock of at least 300 Brent Geese, I heard my first Cettis Warbler of the year. I caught sight of a bird which was probably  a Cettis but as I am not 100% sure then it will not go down aas a sighting. I was searching through the Brent Geese because amongst them, apparently is a Black Brant, a sub species which should be on the Pacific coast with others of its type and not with our Brent. For the life of me I can not find this bird even though I see this flock of Brent Geese most days but there are, as I said, at least 300 and the Black Brant looks very similar and as they spend al their time feeding with heads down, well I just can’t find it!
Back home and in the garden there was qite a variety of interest. The Siskins are still the predominant species in the garden. Who would have thought that I would say that. We have at least a dozen still in the garden now. The males sing costantly and the females are carrying mesting material around.

I can’t honestly believe that they are going to breed in the garden, surely not.  But it would be wonderful if they did. There certainly is enough cover for them and I am sure that they are being well fed.
From the bathroom window with the camera rested on a beanbag I spent an hour photographing the comings and goings.

The Bluetit ringed in the garden in January, now with a mate in toe came to feed on the fat ball and at one time they were both haging from it. All the while the hen Blackbird was carrying her nesting material to an, as yet unfinished nest.

Collared Doves were going through pairing rituals, chasing each other about etc. But believe it or not the best photo taken today was this one of a Wood Pigeon, probably one of the best pictures I have ever taken.