Fennoscandian Lesser White-fronted Goose conservation project ...

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Fennoscandian Lesser White-fronted Goose conservation project – Annual The Swedish project on re-establishment of the Lesser Whitefronted Goose in Swedish Lapland – a summary for 1999 In winter 1998/1999 ca. 75 Lesser White-fronted Geese (Anser erythropus, later LWfG) of Swedish re-introduced origin were wintering in The Netherlands. Of these birds, 56 were colour-ringed. At the most frequented wintering site, Petten in Noord-Holland, we counted at least 28 individuals. Also a Barnacle Goose (Branta leucopsis) pair, that has been wintering there for four years in succession, was present together with five of their six LWfG juveniles. They started to use this wintering site together with their LWfG foster juveniles in 1995. Unfortunately, a LWfG was reported shot at Petten in November (a male released in 1997). During spring 1999, some LWfG were seen at staging sites in Central Sweden. At Öster-Malma (i.e. the education centre for the Swedish Association for Hunting and Wildlife Management, and the reproduction site for the captive LWfG), 14 geese were staging for ca. one month until they went on and were seen in Lapland two days after they left Öster-Malma. A very favourable meadow area before the geese enter their home range in the mountains was used by about 35 individuals. An old farmer and his wife living in the area were 52 Lambart von Essen 1 , Anders Bylin 2 & Bo Fagerström 3 1 Fågelvik, Ludgo, S-61191 Nyköping, SWEDEN 2 Stockholms Universitet, Tovetorps forskningsstation, S-64050 Björnlunda, SWEDEN 3 Dalgatan 10, S-82442 Hudiksvall, SWEDEN able to identify most of them. In June, we were in the release area looking for the geese and trying to reveal if any of them were breeding. Like 1998, also this spring was fairly cold and late. However, we found 36 ringed and ca. 10 unringed LWfG. We found three breeding pairs, and when returning in July we found that one of the breeding pairs was "Limping Lotta" and her mate (see von Essen et al. 1993). When we observed them, they had only one gosling, but anyway she had carried through the breeding at the age of 10 years, and limping since she was three years old. Of course, when finding the brood on 9 July, we were happy and we had an extra drink in our cottage. Nevertheless, that day was the last time she was sighted. In the beginning of September, she did not arrive to Hudiksvall as she usually has done. During the moult she probably had been preyed upon by an Eagle or a Red Fox – ending the life of this remarkable and brave bird. She bred successfully four times and in total she produced eight fledglings. Also another nest in the breeding area hatched successfully, and the brood of three juveniles seen in September at Hudiksvall, and at
Fennoscandian Lesser White-fronted Goose conservation project – Annual report 1999 Photo. A flock of Lesser White-fronted Geese of Swedish reintroduction origin in Swedish Lapland. © Anders Bylin, June 1999 Table 1. Survival (minimum figures) of Lesser White-fronted Geese released as goslings at Svaipa in Swedish Lapland (NL = Netherlands, W = winter and S = summer). The goslings are released at the age of about six weeks in July. Sightings are reported up to 15 October, 1999. Year Number Cumul. South NL Lapland NL Lapland NL Lapland NL Lapland Sum Sweden 1st W 2nd S 2nd W 3rd S 3rd W 4th S 4th W 5th S 1995 20 20 18 12 12 10 9 10 10 9 9 1996 21 41 21 18 13 14 12 10 7 – – 1997 22 63 21 21 13 13 5 (+7*) – – – – 1998 18 81 15 15 11 – – – – – – 1999 11 92 10 – – – – – – – – Total 92 – 85 66 49 37 33 20 17 9 9 Mean 92 % 82 % 60 % 59 % 52 % 49 % 41 % 45 % 45 % *Observed only in central Sweden in autumn Petten in The Netherlands 5 January 2000. In addition, at least one nest in the breeding area was found preyed upon, probably by a Raven (Corvus corax). A pleasant surprise was the observation of a brood of two ringed parents with six unringed juveniles in Central Sweden on 10 September. The male was three and the female four years old. This is the biggest brood of the totally 23 successful breedings registered since the project started in 1981. This brood was seen at the Lake Tåkern in October, and on 20 November it was in Zuid-Holland in The Netherlands. At Lake Tåkern, also another brood of three young was sighted, which we had not seen in the release area. The parents were unringed. The production of goslings at the Öster-Malma farm was this year not very good. We only got two pairs of Barnacle foster parents with 11 goslings (6 and 5) to release. However, we also had six 2nd calendar-year geese from last year to release. Of the 11 goslings, 10 were seen in southern Sweden during the autumn. In total, about 70 LWfG were seen in southern Sweden during autumn migration. The most frequented stop-over sites are Hudiksvall, Hjälstaviken (50 km NW Stockholm), Norrköping and Lake Tåkern. Thanks to reports from many bird watchers, especially in The Netherlands and Germany, migration routes, wintering sites and survival of the geese has been possible to follow up quite well. Thus, out of 20 geese which were released in 1995, 9 were reported from The Netherlands in winter 1998/1999, and they were also sighted in Lapland in summer 1999. Also remarkable is the high percentage of juveniles, which are fledged and seen in southern Sweden (Table 1). von Essen et al: The Swedish project on re-establishment of the Lesser White-fronted Goose in Swedish Lapland – a summary for 1999 Since 1997, 18 2nd calendar-year LWfG have been released together with broods of goslings with Barnacle Geese as foster parents. Out of five released in 1997 and seven in 1998, four have been reported seen in The Netherlands and only two (both females) were seen returned to Lapland. As from our experiences in the 1980s it seems that these 2nd calendar-year geese, that during the moult have been released to fly free for the first time, have not been imprinted on the area like the goslings have been when they began to fly. In 1998, some of the former breeding areas of LWfG were investigated, but in 1999, no inventories were carried through and no reports of LWfG outside the re-introduction area have appeared from ornithologists or local people. References von Essen, L. , Ouweneel, G. L. & van den Berq, A. B. 1993: Origin of colour-ringed Lesser White-fronted Goose at Strijen. – Dutch Birding 15:220–224. (In Dutch with English summary) von Essen, L. 1996: Reintroduction of Lesser White-fronted Goose (Anser erythropus) in Swedish Lapland (1981–1991). – Gibier Faune Sauvage, Game Wildl. 13:1169–1180. von Essen, L. 1999: The Swedish reintroduction project of Lesser White-fronted Geese. – In: Tolvanen, P., Øien, I. J. & Ruokolainen, K. (eds.): Fennoscandian Lesser White-fronted Goose conservation project. Annual report 1998. – WWF Finland Report 10 & Norwegian Ornithological Society, NOF Rapportserie Report no 1-1999:53–55. 53
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