Swedish Lesser Whitefronted Goose Project
Colour-ringed Lesser Whitefronted Geese in Sweden, one of which is fitted with a satellite tracking device. John Grant
A wild goose chase with a difference
The fascinating story began with an email sent on December 31 to the RSPB at Minsmere by the Swedish Lesser Whitefronted Goose Project. The message astonished RSPB staff as it broke the news to them that satellite tracking had shown that a Lesser Whitefronted Goose from the
project had roosted on the Scrape on the night of December 30 after having spent some time during the day on an area near Eastbridge. This one clearly had gone under the radar, so to speak, as no visitor or staff member had reported seeing it. Immediate searches of the reserve and neighbouring areas proved fruitless but on that afternoon the ever-diligent David Fairhurst relocated the goose at North Warren – and to his amazement it was accompanied by three others! Swedish Lesser Whitefronted Goose Project
For some birders, the arrival in Suffolk in December 2014 of four Lesser Whitefronted Geese from a Swedish conservation programme that involves captive breeding and release raised an old chestnut of a conundrum - to tick or not to tick. Some rather cynical, sniffy remarks about the birds’ tickability emerged from the more narrow-minded and strictly list-orientated among us, but for many observers it was more a case of simply enjoying the quartet during their Suffolk sojourn. The occurrence also highlighted the marvels of modern technology - one of the geese was fitted with a satellite tracking device - and also enabled many of us to feel privileged to be part of such an international ornithological event.
A Lesser Whitefronted Goose pen in Swedish Lapland.
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