Swedish bean geese migrate to Scotland, new research


This video from the Netherlands is called Taiga Bean Goose – Anser fabalis fabalis.

From Wildlife Extra:

Bean geese migration mystery solved

Bean geese go on tour of Scandinavia every summer

May 2013. The mystery breeding location for Scotland’s only bean goose flock has finally been solved, Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) has announced. Through GPS tracking, the migration route of one of Scotland’s rarest goose populations has been found to cross Scandinavia with their breeding grounds being in Sweden.

GPS tracking

Six taiga bean geese were fitted with tracking devices by scientists from the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT), commissioned by SNH.The six geese were caught and ringed by experts at their winter quarters on the Slamannan plateau to help understand the threats facing one of Scotland’s smallest flocks of geese.

Huge decline in Scottish population

Bean geese were once common in Scotland, but over the past 100 years or so they have become extremely rare. The Slamannan plateau, outside the village of Slamannan near Falkirk, is home to Scotland’s only wintering population of these birds. The flock, usually about 250 birds, is one of only two which visit the UK in the winter. The second, in Norfolk, is much smaller.

Boost for Scottish Bean geese

Scotland’s only population of a rare arctic goose will be better protected in future thanks to the purchase of a site in North Lanarkshire by Forestry Commission Scotland. Read more at: Scottish Bean goose population given helping hand by Forestry Commission Scotland.

Sweden via Denmark & Norway

In this innovative project, the six geese were fitted with small 19g Global Positioning System (GPS) tags which revealed the location of individual geese each day. The scientists then built up a detailed picture of their winter feeding areas. In late February, the geese left Scotland and spent a month feeding on old stubble fields in Jylland, northwest Denmark preparing for the next leg of their migration. In late March, the flock then travelled to fields 40km north east of Oslo, Norway to feed for two weeks, before moving a further 200km north, in mid-April, to their summering grounds in the forested Dalarna county of west Sweden. Here they have settled in what is thought to be their breeding grounds.

Two local schools, Slamannan and Greengairs primary schools, have followed the twists and turns of the birds’ migration from tagging through to the complete GPS tracking programme, and are hoping to round this off with a trip for six or so of their students to Sweden in 2014. The children have been involved in bean goose project work for several years, and have learned about netting geese for tagging, GPS tracking, and international bird populations, as well as having made artwork, puppets and a short film about the geese. …

The Slamannan plateau

The Slamannan plateau lies between Falkirk and Cumbernauld. Bean geese were first seen in the area during the 1980s, and their numbers and distribution have been monitored annually since the early 1990s. Since then the population has grown to approximately 250 birds. The bean geese arrive in the area in late September each year and leave in late February.

The study is a collaborative project which also includes RSPB Scotland and informs the work of SNH and the Bean Goose Action Group

Waterbird migration and climate change


This video from Canada says about itself:

Common Goldeneye – Bucephala clangula

These Common Goldeneye ducks are wintering in Lake Ontario. Around late March to early April they will begin returning to their northern breeding grounds across Canada and Alaska. Common Goldeneyes can also be found in northern Europe and Asia.

From Wildlife Extra:

Climate changes shift wintering ranges of waterbirds

Waterbirds moving north – More in Finland and Sweden

May 2013. Migratory waterbirds have shifted their wintering areas north-eastwards due to climate change in Europe, according to a group of scientists including Richard Hearn of the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT). Their new study found a strong link between changes in the numbers of goldeneyes, tufted ducks and goosanders wintering across northern Europe and changes in temperature in early winter.

Large rise in Finland and Sweden

In Finland and Sweden, the mid-winter numbers of these three species are more than 130,000 individuals higher than three decades ago. Correspondingly, on the southern edge of the distribution in France, Ireland and Switzerland, numbers have dropped by nearly 120,000 individuals. In several southern countries wintering numbers have halved.

Richard Hearn, WWT’s Head of Species Monitoring and a contributor to the study, said: “Our world is changing rapidly and conservation tools need to be flexible so they can respond to that challenge. This means more monitoring, to keep track of bird populations that are, in some cases, changing exponentially. It also means maintaining a coherent network of protected areas throughout Europe, and altering their management in response to the changing mix of wildlife that uses them.”

“Studies like this are critical to making governments aware of their shifting responsibilities and helping them plan for the future.”

Tufted ducks and goldeneyes in Finland

Aleksi Lehikoinen, Curator at the Finnish Museum of Natural History and lead author of the study, said: “In Finland, the change has been strongest in tufted ducks and goldeneyes, whose numbers have increased ten-fold. Waterbird numbers are connected with the early winter temperature, which in south Finland increased by about 3.8 degrees between 1980 and 2010.”

Hunting

This may have implications for their conservation, because birds are making less use of the protected areas that were designated to protect them. The shifts in the birds’ ranges may also affect the impact of hunting, as possibilities increase in the north and decrease them in the south, altering potential bag sizes.

The research is based on counts from the International Waterbird Census and the results have been published in Global Change Biology.

June 2013. Most species at greatest risk from climate change are not currently conservation priorities, finds an IUCN study that introduces a pioneering method to assess the vulnerability of species to climate change: here.

Siskins, blackbirds, robin still on the balcony


Still some snow, and some ice on waters; but temperatures rising above freezing today.

This is a siskin video from Sweden.

On the balcony and in the tree, still siskin flocks. Probably, they will migrate to northern and eastern Europe when the weather will get warmer.

Also a robin feeding. And blackbirds. And a magpie. And a wood-pigeon.