With the support of Ørsted, The Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT) embarked a study that will tell us more about the cumulative impact of wind farms on a wildfowl population. The knowledge gained will enable us to predict the collision risk to Pink-footed Geese in Britain and, in particular, understand how these birds navigate through wind farms, such as those in the eastern Irish Sea.
We used GPS/GSM tags to study the birds’ annual migration routes, their daily movements between roosts and feeding areas, and their seasonal movements within Britain. The project aimed to monitor the movements of tagged Pink-footed Geese within their winter quarters in Britain. GPS tags were fitted to Pink-footed Geese as follows:
This brought the total number of tags deployed to 73.
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The link below shows a spring migration animation using collated data from all Pink-footed Geese marked with GPS tags :
The link below shows an animation of the movements of eight Pink-footed Geese marked with GPS tags that moulted in north Greenland (some movements are the same goose in two different years):
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WWT/Ørsted are extremely grateful for the support given during fieldwork at Martin Mere by, Brian Hopkins, Dave Fletcher, Dave Walsh and staff and volunteers at WWT Martin Mere, including, Kane Brides, Tom Clare, Paul Ryding, Peter Pownall, Cat Waudby, Jack Grimsditch, Giuliana Sinclair, Bessie McGuinness, Amy Philips, Sue and Mick Mercer, Sam McCoy and Duncan Bradley. In Dumfriess-shire, at the first catch, help was provided by Daniel Gornall, Elizabeth Hickson and Rhiannon Hatfield. Permission to catch birds at Barrasgate Farm was kindly provided by Archie Hamilton. At the second catch, help was provided by Ed Burrell, Richard Hesketh, Liz Mackley and Elizabeth Hickson. Permission to catch birds on the Arbigland Estate was kindly provided by Jamie Blackett.
WWT/Ørsted are also grateful for the support given during fieldwork in Iceland by, Ed Burrell, Tom Clare, Alan Leitch, Arnór Þórir Sigfússon, Verkís, Halldor Stefansson and the catching team from the East Iceland Natural History Institute and from Landsvirkjun.
Updated 31/03/2020
Data, maps and videos are for illustrative purposes only and may not be used without prior written consent of WWT/Ørsted.