Wintering Routine

Bean Geese arrive in late September or early October in numbers ranging from a few birds to c100 birds. Numbers build up during October and by early November the flock reaches its maximum for the wintering period. The flock has increased in size over the past ten years from 135 in 1993/94 to 300 in 2007/08

Juvenile birds have been identified in the past few years with the help of staff from WWT with ratios showing 1.25 young per successful pair.

During the early part of the winter the flock stay together as one large group but by the end of November groups begin to break up to feed in different areas. On occasions small groups of a few birds can be seen away from the main group. One such group have been found recently feeding near Easter Jawcraig Farm. Family parties can be identified as they move about grazing in close company.

The main roosting site is at the Fannyside Lochs and surrounding moorland. The regular daily routine is for the flock to flight out before dawn to a selected field, where if undisturbed will happily spend the day feeding, drinking and resting. If no surface water is available they will flight to a nearby source and drink before resting/loafing for periods up to an hour before resuming feeding once again. If disturbed, the birds will fly off to another feeding site or onto one of the moorland areas where they rest/loaf undisturbed.

After dusk the flock will return to their preferred roosting area and it is at this time that they are their most vocal. The flight distance is often not more than 3-4 kilometres with the time in the air approx. 5 minutes.

The Bean Geese share the area with Greylag and Pinkfeet Geese but most of the time they keep to a separate routine and do not often mix together when feeding. If they do share a field with other grey geese they do not mix at random amongst them but stay together when feeding. It is at this time that confusion with identification of the different species can occur.

The Bean Geese flock generally prefer to feed in stock free fields but they will if necessity dictates share the space with sheep.

During any period of frost and snow the flock will often remain out in their feeding areas and may not return to their icebound loch to roost. Night feeding does occur during normal winter temperatures but has not been studied closely enough to give any routine of this behaviour.

Disturbance of the flock does occur during the winter months but it is not a serious problem and the birds seem to have accepted some disturbance during the winter months. Disturbance can be a farmer visiting his stock in a field or a helicopter flying too low over the area. Some accidental disturbance does occur during monitoring of the flock.