Netherlands (LWFG Special) - Dec 2016 (1 Viewer)

A specialised winter trip report to locate wild wintering Lesser White-fronted Geese. Report focuses on this species in great detail, with GPS sites for the two key wintering areas and explanations of how the birds move around and where to find them in different months (Dec-Jan best).

Also in the report with GPS sites and advice:
- snow goose
- tundra bean goose
- black brant
- alexandrine parakeet
- pine bunting.

Ben

benmacdonald said:

A specialised winter trip report to locate wild wintering Lesser White-fronted Geese. Report focuses on this species in great detail, with GPS sites for the two key wintering areas and explanations of how the birds move around and where to find them in different months (Dec-Jan best).

Also in the report with GPS sites and advice:

• snow goose
• tundra bean goose
• black brant
• alexandrine parakeet
• pine bunting.

Ben

Click to expand...

Wild Lesser White-fronted Geese? But these are released birds from Sweden, not wild at all!!

seawatcher said:

Wild Lesser White-fronted Geese? But these are released birds from Sweden, not wild at all!!

Click to expand...

In fairness Ben explains the situation with LWFG in his report, excellent for other birders as usual.

I had a read of the paper, linked in the report (Lesser White-fronted Geese in The Netherlands: a review of trends, phenology, distribution patterns and origin Kees Koffijberg & Erik van Winden) and it states:

"Reports of colour-ringed birds have clearly shown that the Lesser White-fronted Geese observed in The Netherlands mainly originate from the reinforced breeding population in Sweden. Hence, the increasing numbers in The Netherlands since the 1980s will reflect the initial increase in the Swedish population."

When some LWFG turned up in Suffolk in 2014 I did a bit of research (I write the Swans and Geese section in the Suffolk Bird Report) and did a small paper in Suffolk Birds 2014.