Conservation story: RSPB Scotland's work on the Galloway Glens Greenland White-fronted Goose Project
Thankfully, our wintering geese needn’t take heed of COVID19 restrictions, as nature continues as usual. Thousands are now flying over our homes on migration to summer breeding grounds.
RSPB Scotland is heading-up an exciting local project to help conserve one of our rarest geese that visit here - Greenland white-fronted geese. In partnership with the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (WWT), this project is funded through the Galloway Glens Landscape Partnership (part-funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund) and was launched in June 2018.
Greenland white-fronted goose (adult, showing dark bars on its belly). Photo credit: Angus Hogg
The species winters within the GGLP project area (comprising the Ken and Dee river catchments). This is one of just two locations in Dumfries and Galloway (the other being West Freugh, in Wigtownshire) where these birds return every winter from their breeding grounds in Greenland.
Internationally, this species is listed as ‘near globally-threatened’ and so it’s critical that we work to protect them as they forage and roost on local farms and wetlands. Numbers continue to dwindle since they became protected in the UK (in 1982), with less than 200 returning to the Ken/Dee area in the last few years.
Annual autumn counts (1960-2014) of Greenland white-fronted geese in Ken/Dee area.
As part of the project, Julia Gallagher (Senior Conservation Officer) has been working with the local farming community to encourage management that benefits these geese. This includes rotating field management such as slurry spreading, in order to minimise disturbance to the birds. Other activities such as maintaining temporary, wet pools and managing rush cover will also help to provide them with suitable foraging habitat over the winter.
WWT’s Dr Larry Griffin (Principal Research Officer) has been satellite tagging white-fronts so that we can follow their movements too, not only while they are here with us but as they arrive and depart our shores on migration. On a damp December afternoon in 2018, after four days of waiting, five birds were successfully trapped using a canon-net at Blackpark Farm, on the National Trust for Scotland’s Threave Estate near Castle Douglas. These included three ganders (males) and two female geese.
Following their release, data downloaded via satellite has provided us with a unique insight into their daily and seasonal movements, leaving us quite literally amazed at times. Much of the monitoring work done locally has also been achieved through volunteers as part of the project, who have observed the geese and their behaviours in the field.
And they’re off! White-fronted geese being released after tagging. Photo credit: Calum Murray
The story so far…
Since these birds were trapped and tagged, they returned with other geese and have been showing some interesting news but unfortunately, not all have a happy ending. The three ganders all appear to have perished or stopped transmitting signals. But then nature will take its course and where there is technology, there are technical hitches.
The first goose to be lost was Ucol-39 (goose's tag/collar name). It is not known what happened but this bird’s satellite collar was discovered in a field just a few miles upstream from where the geese had been trapped. It is believed that the body may have been eaten by scavengers (possibly a fox) and the collar got separated, though was still intact.
One other goose, Ucol-36 headed north on migration though it’s departure was late in spring and only made it as far as the Isle of Mull, where it too perished.
Last autumn, one female, Grey-XV or ‘The Wanderer’ as she became known, left us wondering if she’d return to Greenland at all. She travelled as far as the Isle of Mull before turning back to Loch Ken on the same day, and then stayed until very late in the season. She eventually made her second attempt, stopping over in Iceland (a staging post on their migration route), before being one of the very first birds to make the journey to Greenland. Relying entirely on the very precise satellite telemetry (pin-pointing the bird’s location to within 5 metres), we found that Grey-XV appeared to begin laying possibly as many as 4 eggs in early June.
Grey-XV after being applied with a satellite collar tag. Photo credit: George Christie
Then in October, after a delayed return to Scotland, it was found that she had indeed paired up with an untagged mate and they were seen on the island of Tiree with one juvenile. They remained there throughout the winter (though no signal has been detected since mid-January) but we do know that this bird is alive and well, with her family.
Grey-XV with family and a greylag goose (behind) on Tiree. Note the juvenile white-front, with no 'dark bars' on its belly (right of Grey-XV). Photo credit: John Bowler
She was last spotted by our keen-eyed colleague John Bowler (RSPB Tiree Officer) on 1st April, with a dozen other white-fronts. Luckily, with COVID19 restrictions in place, John could still see Grey-XV and her family from his own house but expects them to be leaving any day now.
The one that returned, Grey-XU
Female Grey-XU was the only bird tagged on this project that successfully returned to Loch Ken last October, spending her winter on local farms. It was great to see that she wasn’t alone. Like Grey-XV, she was also with young. Satellite telemetry suggests that she’d laid 5 eggs in Greenland and was later found with three juveniles and a partner at Loch Ken, shortly after arriving last autumn. Great news for the project and for these geese!
Movements of Grey-XU and her family last winter, in the local area (around Loch Ken and also visiting Loch Whinyeon to the west). Source: WWT.
Mr Arthur Thirlwell (a local wildfowl enthusiast and project volunteer) spotted this family while out on fieldwork. He noticed that Grey-XU’s mate appeared to be wearing a black plastic neck-collar but the bird was too far away to see it’s code clearly. Could this have been Ucol-38 (our fifth goose, tagged on the project)? Unfortunately, this bird’s signal stopped last spring, after the gander left Iceland for Greenland. It was thought that he may have perished in a ‘black spot’ crossing the Atlantic Ocean but maybe he just had a faulty satellite tag?
Grey-XU was close to our local RSPB office at Crossmichael before taking to the wing at 06:00 on 31st March. She then headed north-west towards the Argyllshire peninsula, following the east bank of Loch Ken, passing St Johns Town of Dalry and keeping west of Earlston loch, through the Galloway Forest park. She crossed Loch Doon at 07:29 and left the mainland at 08:10, northwest of Maybole.
Continuing over the Firth of Clyde past Arran and continuing northwest by Tarbert, she reached the Isle of Mull by 11:16. This goose eventually made it to North Uist in the Outer Hebrides, where she stopped for a day before heading offshore and north. She touched down on Iceland almost exactly 3 days after leaving the Ayrshire coastline. With a more or less direct trajectory, it does leave us wondering just how it is that these birds are able to navigate during migration? There must be something more ingenious than GPS going on?
Satellite images of Grey-XU’s recent movements to Iceland. Source: WWT
Tracking data over the past months has shown the geese feeding and roosting on local farmland including four farms where Julia has helped to create management plans as part of the project. It will be good to see how support from local farmers will help this species as they return in future years.
The project has also involved local school children, who’ve been learning all about the geese and their travelling lives. Calum Murray (Assistant Warden at Mersehead) has been visiting some of the schools to share the story of these rare geese. Their geography, ecology and local history make them a great subject for school children, as well as learning about science and technology for the satellite tagging and monitoring. These birds really make a great topic for the schools’ curricular programmes too. So far, Crossmichael, Gelston and Dalry Primary, as well as Castle Douglas High and Dalry Secondary schools have all taken part but we'd love more to get involved.
Artwork by Gelston Primary School pupils. Photo credit: Gelston Primary
You can learn more as the story unfolds, by keeping up to date with the Galloway Glens blog.
a great story