KILDARE WILDLIFE COLUMN: Visitors from Greenland not so plentiful anymore
Nuala Madigan from the Bog of Allen Nature Centre
The Irish Peatland Conservation Council own six peatland reserves nationally.
Locally Lodge Bog and Lullymore West Bog are located in North Kildare. This week’s species is not found on one of our local reserves but a peatland reserve located in Co. Clare known as Ketts Lough.
Annually a small flock of Greenland white-fronted geese (Gé Bhánéadanach as Gaeilge) visit this reserve from October to April from the fringes of the arctic of western Greenland.
In spring each year these birds exclusively breed in this area amongst the hummocks of the tundra. By summer and autumn they have made their way to Iceland and by winter arrive on the shores of Ireland and Scotland where they feed for the winter.
Orange legs
BirdWatch Ireland describe the adult Greenland white-fronted goose as a medium sized grey bird, with orange legs, a long orange-yellow bill with a prominent blaze around the base of the bill. Their diet consists of plant material including leaves, shoots and tubers.
Traditionally they fed on boglands, but with the decline in bogland habitat over the years, today they are often found feeding on agricultural land.
The population of Greenland white-fronted goose on Ketts Lough is now low with single digit figures observed, however the largest populations can be found in the Wexford slobs with the Wexford Wildfowl reserve noting that 8,500 of this species over wintered in Ireland in 2021.
While habitat loss is a contributing factor to their population decline in Ireland, other factors are affecting their decline that have nothing to do with Ireland. Studies have shown that only a small percentage of Greenland white-fronted geese ever breed and the losses in population are not being replaced by young.
Climate change is also said to be a contributing factor to population decline. In a few short weeks the Greenland white-fronted goose will depart our shores until they return again next winter. A special thanks West Clare Wildlife Club for their image of the Greenland white-fronted goose on Ketts Lough.
If you spot a local wildlife species and would like to learn more send your wildlife image to [email protected].