Wild Goose Chase? No Problem

Egyptian Goose
It looks like an Egyptian Goose will stir a little interest at the weekend for anyone wanting to add a bird to a list. To save a journey to the wilds of Cockerham Moss my post is a picture of an Egyptian Goose and a video of a less than obliging bird so as to make it like a real life twitch.



Egyptian Goose appears under Category C1 of “The British List”, i.e. naturalised introduced species – species that have occurred only as a result of introduction.

The Egyptian Goose breeds widely in Africa except in deserts and dense forests, and is locally abundant. It was introduced into Britain over 300 years ago as an ornamental waterfowl from where it gradually developed a feral population.

It seems the species has bred successfully since the early 2000s in the south of England and East Anglia where they nest in large holes or the ledges of mature trees or simply on the ground using the islands of gravel pits or park lakes. They have been classified as a pest species because they can displace other tree nesting birds like Kestrel, Barn Owl or Tawny Owl.

Their stronghold is Holkham Park, Norfolk where up to 200 birds congregate. Nearer the Fylde there is also a small population in Greater Manchester but overall they are now spreading so successfully from the original feral stock that it is thought there may be more than a few thousand birds in the UK in total. There are also self sustaining populations in Holland and Germany.

Look out Stanley Park!

On a more serious note the planned ringing for this morning was called off at the last minute due to Ringers Public Enemy Number 1, Excessive Wind Speed.