Staging and wintering Taiga Bean Geese Anser fabalis fabalis in north-east Scania, south Sweden

Abstract

In the municipalities of Bromölla and Kristianstad, south Sweden, monthly counts of Bean Geese have been carried out during October–March/April since November 1976. The seasonal peak count was up to 1987/1988 recorded in March, during the following six seasons in January, and from 1994/1995 onwards in November or December. April numbers decreased from more than 5,000 birds in 1977 to hardly any at all from 1997 onwards. Fewer Bean Geese were counted up to the 1986/1987 season than thereafter. In most of the last 25 seasons, the number of Taiga Bean Geese Anser fabalis fabalis in north-east Scania peaked at about 20% of the total Western Palearctic population, with a highest count of 24,000 birds in December 1997. Most or all Bean Geese left north-east Scania during severe winters. Checks of staging bean goose flocks and hunting bags showed that, except for Lake Hammarsjön from 2004/2005 onwards and a few flocks in the other areas, the Tundra Bean Goose Anser serrirostris rossicus was quite rare in the region.

Changes in migration and wintering patterns of Greylag Geese Anser anser from southernmost Sweden during three decades

“…The timing of migration has also changed and the Taiga Bean Geese arrive earlier to the spring staging areas in northern Sweden nowadays compared to in the late seventies (Nilsson & Persson 1984, Nilsson unpublished). In one of the most important staging and wintering areas for this taxon, NE Scania, the geese nowadays arrive much later in autumn and leave much earlier in spring than some decades ago (Kampe- Persson 2014).…”

“…Actually, there has been a change in the entire migration strategy for the Russian population of the species related to changes in the availability of staging sites in the Baltic (Eichhorn et al 2009). Other fast changes in the migration pattern seen in Sweden is the occurrence of larger numbers of Tundra Bean Geese in recent years (Nilsson 2013, Kampe-Persson 2014 and a higher number of staging Pink-footed Geese Anser brachyrhynchus in south-central Sweden in autumn and spring (Nilsson 2013).…”

Numbers of Taiga Bean Geese Anseer f. fabalis utilizing the western and central flyways through Sweden during springtime 2007–2015

“…At some specific sites, however, larger flocks of Tundra Bean Geese are regularly observed. With the help of neck-banding of a population of Tundra Bean Geese staging and moulting at the Varanger Peninsula in northern Norway, a major wintering area for Tundra Bean Geese, totalling maximum 5000 individuals in mild winters, was recently localised close to Kristianstad in NE Scania, Sweden , Kampe-Persson 2014. Marked Tundra Bean Geese from this northern Scandinavian population have been shown to migrate along the western flyway (utilizing spring staging mainly in the Luleå and Umeå areas in northern Sweden) and are estimated to approximately 3000 individuals (Heinicke 2010, Skyllberg et al 2013).…”