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Click 'find out more' to learn more about the cookies used on this site, or select 'Okay, got it' to continue using the site. However, it is uncertain to what degree undercounting affects the 2017 and 2018 population estimates.Orkney continues to hold the largest proportion of the Iceland Greylag Goose population; however, as geese from both the Icelandic and British populations are present at the time of the census, estimating the number of Icelandic birds also requires an understanding of the number of British birds present.To do this, we used the most recent post-breeding census of British Greylags in Orkney, undertaken in August 2016 (21,000 birds; see Mitchell & Brides 2017), and adjusted it using an estimate of the number of British birds shot in Orkney between September and November 2018 (2,500 birds). Each autumn, birds migrate to spend the winter almost exclusively in Britain. Two different types of Bean Goose have occured in Ireland: Tundra bean Goose and Taiga bean Goose. However, this does pose problems since temporal changes in surveillance from November (wintering area) to August/September (in Iceland) will make the comparison of annual results difficult and so a period of overlap whereby both methods are used should be implemented.Many thanks go to the many IGC counters and Local Organisers who provided the basis of the population estimates.
Consequent increases have been most marked on Orkney, where winter numbers have increased from The Iceland Greylag Goose population is monitored through the Icelandic-breeding Goose Census; an international census undertaken in Britain, Ireland, Iceland, Norway and the Faeroe Islands. Following adjustments for the presence of British/Irish Greylag Geese, which is significant in some areas, a population estimate of 58,426 was derived. Usually disyllabic.Grazes on a range of plant material taking roots, tubers, shoots and leaves. Stroud, I. Woodward & S.R. Thanks also go to those who contributed age assessment data.Previous annual results will be archived here. This provided the first understanding of how Iceland Greylags moved around the wintering grounds. The mean brood size of 2.08 goslings per successful pair was lower than that of the recent ten-year mean (2008–2017: 2.25 ± 0.08 SE).The population estimate of 58,426 Iceland Greylag Geese, although lower is not too dissimilar to that in 2017. This represented a decrease of 4.2% compared to 2017 (Figure 1), when a population size of 60,962 individuals was estimated.During mid-November, 1,378 Greylag Geese from 17 flocks were aged at various locations in Caithness, Scotland. However, difficulty was experienced in finding good numbers of geese for ageing in Caithness in November 2018 which led to a very low sample size.Given the increased difficulty in ageing Iceland Greylag Geese on the wintering grounds and with the discontinuation of the annual wing survey of harvested birds in Iceland, which provided additional information about breeding success, it would be advantageous to explore options for sampling the geese in Iceland prior to migration in order to assess the breeding success of this population. However, the results from summer counts (carried out in 2016), suggest that the majority of birds found in Caithness in winter are from Iceland (C. Mitchell pers. The Greenland White-fronted Goose is the species on the BirdWatch Ireland logo. comm.) In 1996, WWT and the More recently, fewer birds have been marked; but targeted marking of small numbers continues to take place in Ireland by Alan Lauder and several small catches on Islay, north west Scotland and on the breeding grounds in Iceland. If you want to get a good look at this species, make sure you visit Wexford Wildfowl Reserve this winter. Later this month there will be a number of public events for their annual 'Goose Week' and they will also be celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the reserve. The three living genera of true geese are: Anser, grey geese, such as the greylag goose and domestic geese; Chen, white geese (sometimes included in Anser), such as the snow goose; and Branta, black geese, such as the Canada goose. Counters record the number of first winter birds present within a flock and individual brood sizes (Results from these age assessments are presented on the ‘Latest results’ tab, and a summary table can also be found on the ‘Status summary’ tab.Counts were conducted by a network of volunteer observers and professional conservation staff over the weekends of 10/11 and 24/25 November: two survey periods were set in November 2019 due to the need to alter the originally planned date of 17/18 November as a result of it conflicting with a conference many IGC counters were attending.Coverage in Britain was good, with 150 sites checked (compared with 106 in 2017). Wexford (North & South Slobs, Tacumshin Lake & Cahore Marshes), Loughs Swilly & Foyle in County Donegal, Lough Gara in County Roscommon, Midland lakes (Loughs Derravarragh, Iron, Owel & Ennell) in County Westmeath, Little Brosna in County Offaly and River Suck/Shannonbridge in County Roscommon are the most important sites. The ancestor of most domestic geese, the greylag is the largest and bulkiest of the wild geese native to the UK and Europe. Much of this work is focussed on questions about the status of Greylags in certain parts of Scotland and Ireland, where there is increasing overlap in winter range between British Greylag Geese and Icelandic birds, making monitoring more difficult.Sightings of marked birds are still sought from birdwatchers.
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However, as recently as winter 2017/18, sightings of colour-marked Iceland Greylag Geese were sighted as far south as Northumberland (B. Swann pers. Brockway, M. Frederiksen, R.D. Hearn, C. Mitchell, A.Þ.