THE NUMBER OF WINTERING GEESE IN COASTAL DOBRUDZHA IS STEADILY GROWING

Posted on December 11, 2014

On December 6, 2014, a team of the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and Neophron Tours conducted monitoring of the wintering waterfowl in the coastal lakes of Shabla and Durankulak. According to our expectations, the cold spell that occurred during the first days of December brought about an increase of the number of Red-breasted geese in the area of Coastal Dobrudzha – we observed 720 Red-breasted Geese (Branta ruficollis), 1330 White-fronted Geese (Anser albifrons) and 19 Greylag geese (Anser anser).

The majority of the birds had spent the night at sea, probably disturbed by the hunting pressure. Before dawn we heard about 40 shots near Durankulak Lake, that raised part of the geese roosting there. We would like to stress once again that illegal hunting in the wintering grounds, such as hunting in the dark, is one of the main factors causing stress and reducing the population of the extremely rare and endangered Red-breasted Goose.

Besides geese, our team found compact flocks of thousands of Mallards and Pochards. Other interesting observations include 48 Ruddy Shelducks, which is a record number for the area, and 30 Pygmy Cormorants.

All data are from Durankulak Lake (Shabla Lakes did not produce wintering geese or other interesting birds).