Greenland White-fronted Goose is endemic to the British Isles during winter. It has been declining by 3.5% p.a. since the late 1990s and the population has now decreased by ca.40%. Fewer than 25 birds now winter on the Dyfi Estuary, Wales and constitute one of only two regularly monitored flock in Wales. The Dyfi Estuary flock is declining faster than the global average, implying that conditions at this site might be unusually poor, and that this is leading to emigration from the site or poor survival/productivity among the local birds. Because it is a declining endemic, Greenland White-fronted Goose is a UK Red Listed and globally Endangered. It is an EU Annex 1 species, subject of a recent African Eurasian Waterbird Agreement (AEWA) Action Plan.
Two Greenland White-fronted Geese were marked on the Dyfi Estuary in west Wales as part of joint initiative project funded by the Welsh Government. The catching and marking was carried out by the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT) and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB Cymru). The aim is to provide future management advice for the wintering site through detailed mapping of local feeding and roost areas within the estuary over winter. In addition, location data will hopefully shed insights into migration strategies and the location of the breeding quarters in west Greenland. The large-scale movements of the tagged birds, in both spring and autumn 2017, are summarised below. Note that the location of the two tagged geese during the current winter months are password protected.
Tags WHIT01 and WHIT02, two adult females, were caught on the Dyfi Estuary, west Wales in early December 2016 (details below).
- 28 Nov 2019. WHIT02 remains on Islay.
- 15 Nov 2019. Observations from the Dyfi Estuary suggest that WHIT01 did not return to her winter quarters and may have died at some point after leaving Iceland in late April 2019.
- 24 Oct 2019. WHIT02 feeding and roosting near Bowmore, Islay.
- 24 Oct 2019. WHIT02 leaves west Iceland flies to Islay, arriving later that day and settles near Bowmore. There is no contact from WHIT01 (since late April 2019) - either the bird had died over the summer or the tag has failed.
- 18 Sept 2019. WHIT02 leaves west Greeland and arrives in west Iceland (near Miklholt) on 21 Sept.
- June-August 2019. WHIT02 spends the summer at about 68 degrees north in broadly the same area as in summer 2017 and 2018 (see below). There are no location data from WHIT01.
- 4 May 2019. WHIT02 leaves Iceland heads north west to west Greenland for the summer.
- 30 April 2019. WHIT01 gives its last location in south Iceland.
- 8 April 2019. WHIT02 leaves Coll and heads north west over the Atlantic Ocean towards Iceland and arrives at 20h00 later that day.
- 6 April 2019. WHIT01 leaves the Dyfi, heading north west over north Ireland and arrives in south Iceland at 19h00 on 7 April.
- 26 Oct 2018. WHIT01 arrives back on the Dyfi with her mate and two young from 2017.
- 20 Sep 2018. WHIT02 arrives back in southern Iceland.
- 12 Sept 2018. WHIT01 arrives back in southern Iceland (near Hvolsvöllur) from west Greenland.
- June-August 2018. WHIT01 spends the summer at about 68 degrees north in broadly the same area as in summer 2017 (see below). Analysis of the daily location data suggest that WHIT01 appears to start a nesting attempt, but abandons it after a few days.
- 8 May 2018. WHIT02 last reported in west Iceland, presumably heading to west Greenland.
- 2 May 2018. WHIT01 last reported in south Iceland and heads to west Greenland, arriving on west coast by 19 May.
- 14 April 2018. WHIT01 leaves the Dyfi Estuary at 8pm, heading north passing Mull and the Outer Hebrides on its way to Iceland.
- 10 April 2018. WHIT02 leaves Coll and heads north west over the Atlantic Ocean towards Iceland.
- Nov 2017 to mid April 2018. WHIT01 remains on the Dyfi Estuary.
- Nov 2017 to April 2018. WHIT02 remains on Coll in a flock of several hundred other Greenland White-fronted Geese.
- 11 Nov 2017. WHIT02 attempts the autumn migration again and arrives off the northwest coast of Scotland. She then flies south arriving on the inner Hebridean island of Coll later that day.
- 5 Nov 2017. WHIT02 heads south east across the Atlantic Ocean, but strong north easterly winds make her abandon the crossing and return to southern Iceland.
- 5 Nov 2017. WHIT01 arrived back on the Dyfi. WHIT02 remains in Iceland.
- 30 Oct 2017. WHIT01 leaves southern Iceland and crosses the Atlantic, arriving at Lough Swilley, north Ireland.
- 27 Sept 2017. WHIT01 is seen in Iceland. Together with her mate (V05) she has four goslings.
- 21 Sept 2017. WHIT01 arrives back in southern Iceland (near Hvolsvöllur) from west Greenland.
- 10 Sept 2017. WHIT02 arrives back in southern Iceland (near Hvolsvöllur) from west Greenland.
- .June-August 2017. Both tagged birds spend the summer in west Greenland. WHIT01 at about 68 degrees north and WHIT02 at about 67 degrees north. Analysis of the daily location data suggest that WHIT01 probably attempted to breed, and may have been successful, while WHIT02 appears to start a nesting attempt, but abandons it after a few days.
- 6 May 2017. Close behind, WHIT02 finally crosses the Greenland ice cap and arrives in west Greenland.
- 5 May 2017. WHIT01 is logged crossing the Greenland ice-cap.
- 2 May 2017. WHIT01 gives its last location in southern Iceland. Hopefully she too has left for west Greenland.
- 29 April 2017.WHIT02 gives its last location in southern Iceland. Hopefully she has left for west Greenland.
- 7 April 2017. After four days of 'radio silence' WHIT02 makes contact again. She has made it to Iceland and is recorded 10km from WHIT01 near Hvolsvöllur, a small town in the south of Iceland about 100 km to the east of Reykjavík. Although the location data are missing, it is probable that WHIT02 left west Wales at about the same time as WHIT01, although we don't know the route that she took, or how long the crossing took.
- 4 April 2017. WHIT01 moves further west along the southern Iceland coast.
- 2/3 April 2017. WHIT01 leaves the Dyfi sometime during late evening on 2 April. By midnight, she is recorded flying to the north west of Anglesey and by 4am it arrives on Mull (Argyll). At 6am, she flies over Rum and at 7am she flies over Stornoway (Western Isles). At 6pm she is recorded near Hofn (SE Iceland).
- 10 Mar 2017. WHIT02 leaves Portmadoc and heads south back to the Dyfi. She is recorded feeding in exactly the same field in which it was caught and marked three months earlier.
- 9 Mar 2017. WHIT02 leaves Wexford, crossing the Irish Sea to Portmadog in North Wales. She is here from Noon until 6pm. Is this the start of spring migration?
- 20 Feb 2017. WHIT01 remains on the Dyfi Estuary and is mapping out the feeding and roosting sites on a daily basis.WHIT02 remains at Wexford
- 18 Dec 2016. WHIT01 remains on the Dyfi Estuary, while WHIT02 remains at Wexford.
- 12/13 Dec 2016. Tag WHIT02 moves south to North Slob, Wexford, Ireland and roosts at the traditional site (Raven Point).
- 11/12 Dec 2016. Tag WHIT02 roosts on the RSPB Ynys Hir reserve, but by midday on 12 December, WHIT02 had moved north west to near Stabannan, County Louth, Ireland (a known wintering site of Greenland White-fronted Geese), 55km north of Dublin.
- 4 Dec 2016. Tags WHIT01 and WHIT02 are caught and GPS tags are deployed. The first few days show local movements between feeding fields and the roosts.
The marking initiative is funded by the Welsh Government and forms part of a larger study involving the following partners: Welsh Government, The Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT), the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB Cymru), Mick Green (ecologist), Natural Resources Wales, The British Association for Shooting and Conservation (BASC) and the Dyfi, Mawddach & Dysynni Wildfowlers’ Association (DMDWA). We are extremely grateful for the support given during fieldwork by Michael and Theresa Sherman.
The data and maps are for illustrative purposes only and may not be used without prior written consent of WWT/RSPB Wales.
© WWT/RSPB Wales 2016-2020