A White-fronted Geese invasion!

Saturday 27th December 2025.

An adult with two juvenile Russian White-fronted Geese at Harbridge. They were among a group of eight birds here.

Finally the weekend was upon us again and so after picking up both Andy Fisher and Geoff Farwell, it was off to Wicor, Portchester for the long staying male Cirl Bunting and then hopefully for one of the Tundra Bean Geese and White-fronted Geese over at Harbridge, near Fordingbridge. The weather was spot on with a clear blue sky overhead, but a very chilly north-easterly wind kept the temperatures very cold indeed.

Wicor, Portchester:

The overgrown Pond where the Cirl Bunting had been seen over the past three days. But not today.

Despite a two and a half hour wait in rather cold temperatures, there was no sight or sound of the male Cirl Bunting this morning. Both Graeme Loader and Chris Geary were already at the site by the pond as they greeted us on our arrival here. I have never been to this site before and getting the exact location thanks to the guys on the ‘Lazee Birders Whatsapp site’ with a ‘pin-drop’, it didn't take long to find where to look. And so the long wait had begun.

Above, there were many Wood Pigeons here at the site and below, Greenfinches were also abundant.

Above, a flock of around 20+ Linnets dropped into the site and below, a large flock of Magpies were in the trees nearby.

Though the weather was perfect, as was the light, sadly, the Cirl Bunting did not appear for us as we found out later that there was no sighting of the bird all day. Has the bird actually gone? We shall see over the coming days, but there were a few notable birds around during our time there. At first, there were a good number of both Greenfinch and Goldfinch around to keep us on our toes and seeing that the Bunting likes to hang around with the former, we checked all the Greenfinches that were popping up all over the place. Even a large flock of Linnets came into the nearby bushes behind the Pond. A Grey Wagtail flew over and landed somewhere on the Pond but the vegetation in front of us obscured our view of the bird. It later flew off along with many other passerines when a male Sparrowhawk flew over.

One of several Wrens flitting about in the vegetation and below, a female Greenfinch perching nicely in the early morning sun.

This Song Thrush was seen enjoying the berries along with both Redwing and Blackbirds.

There were a lot of berries in the surrounding bushes and this attracted several Redwing along with a Song Thrush and several Blackbirds. Both Wrens and Dunnocks were noted as well as several Robins, but the star bird did not appear. Andy picked out a Little Egret flying over having probably just come off Portsmouth Harbour, which incidentally, was at low tide; so we could hear both Redshank and Curlews calling behind us. So after spending some time here (and I would like to thank Andy immensely for lending me his Hand Warmers!) I was actually grateful to get into my warm car. Our mobile phones were going off throughout our stay here and one of the ‘Lazee’s’ sent a text that the Tundra Bean Goose was seen this morning among the Russian White-fronted Geese at Harbridge. So, despite the M27 still being closed, we took the trip through Segensworth to get back onto the M27 westbound.

Harbridge & Ibsley Bridge, nr Fordingbridge:

The eight Russian White-fronted Geese coming into land near Ibsley Bridge.

We arrived at Harbridge around 12.30pm and looking both north and south from Kent Lane, near Ibsley Bridge, all we could see was a lone Lapwing in one of the fields. So I took a drive up Churchfield Lane to view the fields to the east, but I had to stop eventually as there was no sign of any Geese in the fields. While parked up in a layby, Geoff picked out a male Stonechat on a fence post before we turned round and made our way to the layby beside Ibsley Bridge. I know I was starving and so decided to take lunch there and that is when Andy saw a small flock of ‘Grey’ Geese flying over heading east towards Blashford Lakes. While chomping on a Turkey sandwich, curiosity got the better of me and the flock of Geese did actually look a bit smaller and darker than the abundant Grey Lag Geese here and so I got out of the car and watched the birds flying north through my scope. Thankfully, the birds soon turned and flew all the way back towards us and sure enough, they flew close enough to see them clearly now including some sporting the white facial patch above their bills. There were six adult White-fronted Geese (our first of the year) and two juveniles and all the birds eventually landed in the field to the north.

Above and below, the Russian White-fronted Geese coming into land.

The White-fronts eventually landed in the field near Ibsley Bridge and below, a small group of Roe Deer in the same field to the north.

Andy found this Great White Egret flying north up the River Avon.

I told the guys who then joined me in watching the birds and Andy found a Great White Egret flying north, following the River Avon below. A little earlier, I saw a pair of Goosanders flying high over the fields towards Blashford Lakes and a male Kestrel was seen hunting nearby over the reedbed near the Bridge before flying off. Earlier today, the White-tailed Eagle had been seen and the raptor put up all the Geese in the area and as Andy still wanted the Eagle for his year list, we kept a vigilant watch over the skies during the rest of the time we spent here.

Blashford Lakes, near Fordingbridge:

This drake Goosander was seen from the Tern Hide flying over Ibsley Water.

Having had our fill of the Russian White-fronted Geese at Harbridge, we then spent the next hour within the Tern Hide on Blashford Lakes. As expected, the wildfowl here was packed with the usual species, but most of the ducks and geese spent their time at the northern end of Ibsley Water. A few Pochard, Wigeon and Tufted Duck showed very well near the Hide and in this light, taking photos of them was very easy. I had my scope with me, of course and managed to see a lot more of the wildfowl present. At least 4 Goosanders were seen that included one drake and two redheads and I counted three female Goldeneyes and one drake. Just before we left, a drake Red-breasted Merganser flew in and landed out of view near the Goosander Hide.

Above, a group of Wigeon swam close by the Tern Hide and below, this was the nearest a Goldeneye to the Hide during our stay here.

Above, this drake Pochard also came close to the same Hide and below, this female Goosander was seen preening by one of the spits.

There were a few waders present on the site that included mostly Lapwing that were on the islands, but I did find up to three Green Sandpipers distantly on the waters edge. Surprisingly, there were no raptor sightings at all during our hour here and also nothing unusual among the many Gulls either. The only passerine of note during our time here was a Meadow Pipit walking close to the Hide and so we headed off back home with at least one ‘year-tick’ under our belt today.

Above, another photo of the female Goosander. Another female bird was swimming behind the spit and below, a female Tufted Duck swam close to the Tern Hide.

Above, the view from the Hide and below, a mixture of Egyptian Geese, Gulls, Canada Geese, Wigeon and Cormorants on one of the small islands over on the west side of Ibsley Water.

I got a text from Matt Parkes early this evening to say that he saw the Tundra Bean Goose at Lower Pennington Lane, near Pennington Marshes along with a flock of 18 Russian White-fronted Geese. Well done Matt.

In Hampshire today:

There seems to be a massive influx of Russian White-fronted Geese in the UK and especially in Hampshire too with flocks seen over Portsdown Hill (61 birds), two flocks consisting of 94 birds at Titchfield Haven, two birds at Dibden Bay and 50 birds over Fleet. Off the Hayling Oysterbeds, a Red-necked Grebe was found by Jason Crook along with sightings of Long-tailed Duck, Slavonian Grebe and Black-necked Grebe. A Merlin was also present there this morning. Despite searching for an Auk earlier this week off the harbour entrance at Eastney, low and behold, a Razorbill was found today within the harbour entrance off Sandy Point.