20230219 (49)_White-fronted_Goose
Time was, Winter meant flocks of 1500 European White-fronted Goose at Slimbridge Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust site in Gloucestershire, with birders hunting through them for a vagrant Lesser White-front. No more: the population of Lesser White-fronts has collapsed and the White-fronts "short-stop" in the Netherlands and East, with climate change rendering it possible to winter there without making the extra journey to the British Isles. But a few still turn up in traditional spots (one wonders whether this really is tradition and as birds get old and fail to make another migration, even this will stop). Meantime I was grateful for excellent views in superb light of these handsome wild geese. The black bars on the breast indicate an adult.
20230219 (49)_White-fronted_Goose
Time was, Winter meant flocks of 1500 European White-fronted Goose at Slimbridge Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust site in Gloucestershire, with birders hunting through them for a vagrant Lesser White-front. No more: the population of Lesser White-fronts has collapsed and the White-fronts "short-stop" in the Netherlands and East, with climate change rendering it possible to winter there without making the extra journey to the British Isles. But a few still turn up in traditional spots (one wonders whether this really is tradition and as birds get old and fail to make another migration, even this will stop). Meantime I was grateful for excellent views in superb light of these handsome wild geese. The black bars on the breast indicate an adult.