Lesser White-fronted Goose (BBRC, BOU Cat A/E)

One record of an adult male bird on January 1st, 1943 at Nene Mouth on The Wash which flew in and joined a pinioned pair of the same species in a local wildfowl collection. It stayed just one day. This note was published in British Birds

"The Handbook of British Birds admits only one British record of this species as fully authenticated, that of a young male shot at Fenham Flats, Northumberland, by the late Abel Chapman on September 16th, 1886. To this must be added, if it is safe to assume that the bird was wild, the Lincolnshire record published by Mr. Peter Scott in The Field, August 18th, 1945, p.171, of an adult which joined a pinioned pair belonging to Mr. William Tinsley in January, 1943, and left again on the following day."

These birds are highly migratory Arctic-nesting geese breeding from Scandinavia eastward to eastern Siberia. A massive population decline across its entire range occurred during the 19th and 20th centuries, with an abrupt decline since c.1950 in Finland and other parts of Scandinavia, the most likely source of British wintering birds. There was also concurrent evidence of winter decreases in south-east Europe (Marchant and Musgrove 2011). This accords with the long-term decline in British records since 1950 and with only four since 2000. The classic ‘carrier’ species for most of the British records is Eurasian White-fronted Geese A. anser albifrons and this was case for the most recent record (Essex, 2017) although they have also been found with flocks of Taiga Bean Geese, A. fabalis. A reintroduction scheme began in the late 1980s in Fennoscandia and that population now numbers about 20 pairs; the autumn population there often numbers more than 100. 

BBRC statistics record 114 Lesser White-fronted Geese in Britain between 1950 and 2015. The species has become something of an extreme rarity and birds of wild origin are few and far between; there have been only three since 2000, the most recent at Buckenham, Norfolk, in 2010/11. It has become difficult to be sure of the origin of particular individuals of this species, partly because of the presence of escaped or feral birds, but also because of the occurrence of birds from the Swedish re-introduction scheme. Most of the latter winter in The Netherlands but some marked individuals have appeared in Britain during 2014-2016 (BBRC, BirdGuides 2017). This position statement by BBRC appeared in their 1992 report:

 

"Because of the confusion over origins of the ones seen in Britain, the Committee has opted to provide details of all occurrences in the species comment only. This allows details to be placed on record, but not included in the statistics, which are intended to relate to wild individuals. The Finnish re-introduction scheme produced the 'neck-ringed' individual at Slimbridge from 1990 onwards; introduced stock in Sweden has already bred with wild individuals and produced young, which have not been ringed. The effect of these schemes is that we can no longer assume that birds displaying 'traditional' features of wild Lesser White-fronted Goose are genuine 'wild' birds. It is important, so that patterns can be assessed and monitored, that all records of this species are submitted, even when they are suspected of being feral".

 

 

 

Site	First date	Last date	Count	Notes
Nene Mouth, Holbeach Marsh	January 1943		1	Exact date not specified

  

References 

Aarvak, T., Jostein Øien, I., & P. Shimmings (2016).  A critical review of Lesser White-fronted Goose release projects. Norsk ornitologisk forening, Reoport 6-2016.

BirdGuides (2017) Lesser White-fronted Goose Anser erythropus. Sightings information from www.birdguides.com/Species-Guide/ioc/anser-erythropus on 9th November 2017.

Davis H.H. and Scott, P. (1946) Lesser White-fronted Geese on the Severn. British Birds 39(3): 77-79.

Rogers, M. J., and the Rarities Committee (1993). Report on rare birds in Great Britain in 1992. British BIrds 86 (10): 447-540.

Scott, P. and Maxwell, G (1946). Studies of some species rarely photographed. II The Lesser White-fronted Goose. British Birds 39(3): 80.

 

(Account prepared November 2017; includes records to 2016. Some minor amendments September 2022.)