We now have a flock of 210 birds this winter which is very similar to the 207 we had last year.
Some better weather on the 17 Dec gave us the opportunity to search for juveniles within the flock. With the help of Carl Mitchell (WWT) we searched a flock of 115 birds near the Dyke Farm and identified 7 juveniles out of 98 birds.
Later in the morning we searched a further flock of 80 birds and identified a further 13 juveniles out of 69 birds within the flock.
Brood sizes for all counted was 1,1,1,2,2,3,2,1,2,1,1,2,1 = 20 juveniles in total out of 167 birds aged which equates to 12% an average count for our wintering flock of Taiga geese over the past 20 years.
The flock remains in two distinct groups this winter and probably reflects the two variable migration routes when they leave Denmark in the early spring on their migration routes north via Norway and Sweden.
Again this winter the birds use of the field systems available to them highlights their love of being difficult to see when they use fields with plenty of camouflage which obviously gives them a sense of security.
It has been noticeable with Covid 19 in the environment that visiting birders have been very few this winter and it is sad that you have lost the opportunity to see this lovely goose in its winter quarters.
I attach a picture for you to enjoy the birds in one of the fields I have described above.
We still have the ability to monitor six of our tagged birds although at this time of the year their batteries often don't have enough charge to tell us where they are.
Two of our birds caught last year are still showing in Denmark so it definitely looks like they are short stopping this winter and not coming across.
