goosing about

[reninfrance]

Having completed the weekly shopping we decided to go rideabout in the local marshes and indulge in a picnic of 'date court' sandwiches and doughnuts.
It was one of those lovely 'if it moves snap it' occasions and I came home with a wonderful collection of grainy, badly focussed photos.

Trying to identify things later I was stumped by the goose. Nothing in the books relating to this region and nothing in my European books. Browsing the Gallery I found Black's pictures of swan geese.





Could these be Anser Cygnoides? There were two but one made a rapid beeline for a ditch before I could catch the pair together.

If so will they be 'in transit' and to where?

Sorry about the quality of the photos my point and shoot and I are not up to bird shots.

[black]

Hi Ren,
yes it certainly looks like a Swan Goose, they are most likely feral birds ie originally from a population of escaped or domesticated birds. They are probably not in transit as in migrating somewhere but will be quite localised and fly around to different feeding and/or breeding areas in your region.

[reninfrance]

Thanks Black,

Although I visit often for the sheer peace and bleakness of the area, I rarely take my camera to the local marshes as it is so frustrating to be unable to take decent images of what I see, and I have so little knowledge of the birds to identify them 'on the hoof'.

It's rather embarrassing to find that the only pictures I manage are of rather exotic birds such as storks and spoonbills or not supposed to be there like this swan goose and the sacred ibis I saw two years ago. All found cavorting happily in fields by working farmsteads and thriving in a working agricultural, salt producing and oyster/mussel farming environment.

[url=http://www.wildabouttheworld.com/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/10868][/url


The stork and spoonbill are regular migrants here and so this is their natural summer environment, they (and many other migrant and 'indiginant' birds are protected species). However the Ibis which is presumed to be a zoo escapee is also protected as is I think the Swan goose.
Could the protection of 'escapees' damage the overall balance of such environments or does the fact that a species so endangered in it's original habitat , such as the swan goose, warrant it being protected and allowed to establish elsewhere regardless of the consequences?

ren

[paul m]

Originally Posted by reninfrance

..............
Could the protection of 'escapees' damage the overall balance of such environments or does the fact that a species so endangered in it's original habitat , such as the swan goose, warrant it being protected and allowed to establish elsewhere regardless of the consequences?

ren

One of those questions that you can't answer until it happens so generally best to avoid introductions. We have, however, to differentiate between introductions or escapes of a species and natural shifts in population: distribution of all species of plant/animal shifts gradually with changes in climate and so forth: this can be more rapid in the case of birds because of their ease of movement.

There are two worries. On a specific level one species may out-compete a related species or one occupying the same niche - an example here would be the introduction of grey squirrels to British Isles with harmful effects on the native red squirrel (possibly other species). The other concern is that a released species can generally unbalance an ecosystem - imagine elephants introduced to a small European island! This is why in places the spread (which may be natural) and proliferation of the Canada Goose in Europe is a concern.

Your migrant birds in small numbers seem unlikely to be problematic. What a treat for you to see such unusual beasts!

[black]

You might be interested in this article. Sacred Ibis are breeding in higher numbers along the Atlantic coast in France, the population has grown from escaped birds from Branféré Zoological Gardens in southern Brittany who originally imported the birds from Kenya.

http://www.birdingworld.co.uk/images/SacredIbises.pdf

[reninfrance]

Thanks again Black, a very interesting article.

That explains something which has puzzled me. When I mentioned the Ibis to someone on a Wildlife Protection stand in Nantes arouind the time I photographed it he demanded quite forcefully that I told him where I had seen it as it should be culled. It quite shocked me at the time and I'm afraid I did not tell him. I wonder if I would now?
what would you do?

My guide to the birds of Brittany and the Loire Atlantique although bought only last year was published in 2005 which explains why IT lists them as protected when I suspected that they were being culled.

Exploring the records of bird sitings for Loire Atlantique www.faune-loire-atlantique.org - Explication des symboles I found that the swan goose was recorded twice last year and once already in January just east of Nantes. Nice to know that other people go home feeling bemused.

I also noticed that sitings of spoonbills and white storks seem to be very early this year considering the harsh winter experienced by much of Europe.

Yes Paul it is a real treat. I am very lucky to live here where we are literally sandwiched between the Grand Lieu Lake and the Breton marshes. Still I miss the Derbyshire Peaks and Dales (lived near Mansfield for many years) and of course the Yorkshire Moors. There's fabulous wildlife on all our doorsteps. It is just keeping it there for the grandkids that's the problem.