Bean to Holywell Pond

Saturday I took a run up to Holywell Pond area to look for the Bean goose ,only to be told all the Geese had been scattered by a shooting party ,and only now where some returning to the potato field . It was a  bitter cold wind myself and a couple of other birders stood on a slight mound to give us some height advantage across the field , luckily the bird was in the open and I picked it out fairly quickly but was undecided yes it had orangish legs but that was about all you could see so we went through the features and compared it with the nearby Pinks it wasn't an obvious bird to us but perhaps in better light it would have stood out SP did very well to pick it out of  a flock of several hundred . Whilst scoping it a male Merlin went through the bottom of the scope as it crossed the field  I managed to follow it till it climbed and went behind trees till it came over them and headed south always a nice bird to see especially in the parish . Checking the pond nothing of note save a tufted  that resembled a Scaup but on scoping  it out ,it failed to pass the test.

I make no apologies for the following image taken over a long distance and under stress of  a strong bitter cold  wind !!!