Many wild birds (including ducks, geese, cranes) are migratory. They spend the warm season in the north, and with the onset of cold weather they move to the southern regions. Many people learned about where geese and ducks winter in school. The wintering place is not chosen by birds by chance. They know their destination very well, gather in flocks, and the flight is completed in the shortest possible time and with minimal losses.
Where do birds fly for the winter?
Cranes winter in Iran, India, Iraq or Africa. Larks fly to India or northern Africa. Cuckoos spend the winter months in southern Asia or Africa. The champion of long-distance flights is the Arctic tern, an inhabitant of the Arctic.
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Where do Arctic geese fly?
In the photo: brent geese, Tobseda.
Summer in the Arctic is short and rarely offers an abundance of warm days. Snow cover even in the southern tundras can persist until mid-June, and in more northern areas frosts and snowfalls can occur throughout the summer in some years. Despite this, every spring, millions of birds flock to the Arctic from all over the world in order to give birth to a new generation in less than three months.
The characteristics of tundra ecosystems and, first of all, the abundance of various wetlands, largely determine the nature of the avifauna. The leading role here is played by waterfowl and semi-aquatic birds, which not only make up the bulk of nesting species, but are also an important food resource for a number of predators. Among the many bird species of the wetland complex, a fairly large group of typical herbivorous species – geese and geese – play an important role in the life of Arctic ecosystems.
In total, the fauna of the Russian Arctic includes eight nesting species of geese and geese. The most widespread are the white-fronted goose and the bean goose, whose habitats cover almost the entire Arctic zone from the Barents Sea region to Chukotka.
The lesser white lesser is also widely distributed geographically, but this rare species, listed in the Red Book, nests sporadically and in small numbers, mainly in forest-tundra and southern tundra.
The white goose nests en masse only on Wrangel Island, and white goose nests in the coastal tundra of the Chukotka Peninsula. Of the three species of geese, the most widespread is the brant goose, which nests along the coasts of the Arctic seas of the Asian part of Russia. The barnacle goose lives only in the Barents Sea region, and the range of the red-breasted goose is limited to small areas of the north of Western Siberia (the Yamal and Gydan peninsulas) and the Taimyr Peninsula.
From the laying of the first egg to the chicks raising their wings, geese and geese take about two months. While the chicks grow and cannot fly, their parents also lose the ability to fly due to seasonal molting. Birds that have not bred or lost their nests moult a little earlier. As a rule, in the second half of August, all the birds are already on the wing and ready to begin autumn migration.
Where do Arctic geese fly away when autumn cold and snowfalls come to the tundra? Where are their migration routes? And why do geese flock to the Arctic every spring with its inhospitable climate and short summer?
***
In autumn, millions of birds from all over the north-west and north of Eurasia flock to European countries for the winter. Among them are the majority of our Arctic geese, nesting from the westernmost regions of the European north of Russia to Taimyr and the delta of the river. Lena. A relatively small proportion of northern geese winter in eastern Europe, primarily in Hungary. The largest wintering areas are in Holland and Northern Germany, as well as Denmark. All our barnacle geese and most of the white-fronted geese nesting from the Kanin Peninsula to the Taimyr Peninsula, as well as a significant part of the bean geese, winter here. This situation is associated both with historical factors and with the peculiarities of the development of agriculture in the north of Western Europe.
The coasts of the southern part of the North Sea (the “Wadden Sea” region) have probably always been a wintering place for Arctic geese, since it is here that one of the main and most intense migratory routes of Eurasia leads - the Northwestern (White Sea-Baltic) flyway, which runs along sea coasts from the Arctic to the Baltic and the North Sea. Sea coasts are attractive to birds not only as an obvious landmark during migration, but also due to the abundance of favorable feeding habitats associated with marine ecosystems. For herbivorous geese, such biotopes include, first of all, coastal meadows, or marshes, with a vegetation cover of special types of sedges and grasses rich in protein, as well as a number of other important food plants. In addition, many river delta complexes are also associated with sea coasts, which are also favorable feeding habitats for geese. Another important advantage of sea coasts is the ability to always go to the water in case of danger and spend the night in shallow water that is safe for predators and hunters. It must be said that almost all more or less large migratory stops of geese are associated with one or another body of water - large lakes, rivers or seas.
However, in recent decades, and in some cases even centuries, it is not natural coastal habitats that have been of particular importance for wintering geese, but numerous agricultural lands. The fact is that a significant part of the Wadden Sea, through the efforts of many generations of Dutch residents, has been turned into numerous fields - polders, on which over the past centuries the bulk of cereals and other cultivated plants of the Netherlands have been grown. It is the polders, with their crops of cereals, sugar beets and other crops, that are the most important winter habitats for Arctic geese. And given that over the past half century, hunting for geese and geese in Holland and Germany has virtually completely ceased, these agricultural lands have become a paradise for birds; the abundance of accessible, nutritious and safe food ensures extremely high survival rates for birds in winter. It is thanks to this that most species of geese wintering in the north of Western Europe have demonstrated a stable increase in population numbers in recent decades. And now this is becoming a problem for agriculture, since, for example, the population of the barnacle goose wintering here alone has grown from 10,000 to 1,200,000 individuals over the past 50 years.
Three species stand apart in relation to the location of the main wintering places in comparison with the most common species of geese: the red-breasted and black-breasted geese and the lesser white-fronted lesser white-fronted geese.
The red-breasted goose is a unique species in many ways. Its extremely bright coloring makes it unlike other species of Arctic geese. The ecology of red-breasted geese is also interesting: the species nests almost exclusively under the protection of peregrine falcons on river cliffs from Yamal to Taimyr. Even more interesting is the story associated with the wintering grounds of the species. Until 1967-1968 all red-breasted geese wintered in the South-Western Caspian region, mainly in the area of Kyzyl-Agach Bay in Azerbaijan. However, already from 1968-1969. The wintering grounds of geese have completely moved from the Caspian region to the lower reaches of the Danube. Such a radical and one-time change of wintering place is a unique case that has no analogues in Eurasia. Now the main wintering grounds of red-breasted geese are located in Bulgaria, Romania and partly in Greece. In some winters, a small part of the geese remain to spend the winter in the area of Lake Manych-Gudilo in the south of European Russia, in Kalmykia. The species is listed in the Red Book of Russia.
The wintering characteristics of the brent goose are related to the specifics of their diet. On migration and nesting, this species is largely similar to other Arctic geese and geese and feeds, for the most part, on coastal marshes. However, during the wintering period, the brant geese, more than all other species, is associated with coastal marine waters - areas where zostera, a special type of sea grass that grows in shallow waters, and, less often, at depths of 1-4 m, is found. Some brent geese winter off the coasts of Holland and Germany , however, the most important wintering area is the coastal waters of the Bay of Biscay, mainly in the area of Arcachon Bay in Western France. Currently, in many areas there is degradation of zoster fields off the coasts of Western Europe, which is associated with a reduction in the population of brent geese nesting in the Russian Arctic.
The Lesser Lesser Lesser White-fronted Geese is one of the rarest, most vulnerable and little-studied species of our Arctic geese. Finds of lesser geese nests are few and do not provide sufficient information about where and how these geese nest. And due to poaching, the number of the species continues to decline. Lesser white-fronted goose winter in South-Eastern Europe, the Black Sea region, Ciscaucasia and Transcaucasia, the Caspian region, Iraq and China.
If geese and geese, nesting from the western regions of the Russian Arctic to Taimyr and the Lena delta, winter mainly in Europe, then the birds of northeastern Russia connect our tundras with East Asia and North America. The most important wintering areas for birds nesting in northern Yakutia and Chukotka are located in China, Korea and Japan. White-fronted geese, bean gooses, lesser lesser white-fronted geese, and lesser lesser white-fronted geese spend the winter here, and along the sea coasts - brent geese of the Asian population (they nest in the north of Yakutia).
The wintering grounds of two species are associated with the Pacific coast of North America - the snow goose and the brent goose.
The white goose currently nests en masse only on Wrangel Island, but back in the 19th century it was widespread in the mainland tundra of northeastern Russia. Snow geese from two different populations come to Wrangel Island to nest: some winter in northern California, and others in the western part of the US-Canada border. The snow goose is the species with the largest and fastest growing population in the world. More than one hundred thousand pairs of this species nest on Wrangel Island, and in the Arctic zone of North America, according to various estimates, from 5 to 10 million white geese live.
Brent geese, nesting mainly in the coastal tundra of the Chukotka Peninsula, fly to the Pacific coast of North America for the winter, where they can be found from Alaska to Mexico.
The northernmost and harshest places are chosen for wintering by white necks. The main wintering place for this species is the Aleutian Islands in the North Pacific Ocean. Little-studied wintering sites are known along the Pacific coast of Russia - on the Commander Islands and Eastern Kamchatka.
Thus, the wintering grounds and nesting areas of Arctic geese are separated by thousands of kilometers, which takes the birds from several days to two to three weeks to overcome. And often the breeding success of the birds and how many young geese will reach the wintering areas and replenish the population depend on the conditions the birds encounter during the migration period. That is why a significant part of scientific research is devoted to the migratory period of birds.
***
Until the end of the 20th century, the main method of studying the migratory routes of birds, including geese, was ringing. The principle of ringing is that whenever birds are caught, a metal ring with an individual number and the designation of the country of ringing is put on the paw of each individual. If a ringed bird is recaptured anywhere in the world, hunted or found in other circumstances, it will be reported to the national banding center and entered into the ring return database. Based on such returns for a large number of species, it is possible to construct a general picture of their territorial connections. For example, based on where hunters mainly hunt geese with Dutch and German rings, one can judge the migration routes of geese from northern European wintering populations. However, the problem with banding, especially for traditional game species such as most geese and some geese, is that there can only be one return per individual. This does not allow us to judge interannual variability in the timing of migration, migration stops, etc. An important step towards solving this problem was the widespread use of color tagging of geese and geese in the 1970s and 1980s.
The principle of color tagging is generally similar to ringing - a colored plastic collar with an alphabetic, digital or mixed code is put on geese along with a metal ring, and one or two colored plastic rings are put on geese. What is the advantage? The fact is that the individual code on the collar or plastic leg rings can be read from a distance using a spotting scope or binoculars. Thus, the same bird can be observed for many years at wintering grounds, migratory stopovers and nesting sites. For colonial species, such as the snow goose, barnacle and brent geese, color tagging of birds breeding on a given colony has provided invaluable data on the characteristics of nesting biology, territorial relationships within the colony and interannual movements of birds. Color marking provided a lot of new data on the use of certain migratory stops by birds and their duration; Color marking also makes it possible to assess the breeding success of birds over many years, since many bird lovers in Europe can observe from year to year how many chicks a pair brought to wintering grounds from breeding grounds in the Russian Arctic. Thanks to color tagging, scientists have learned much more about the life expectancy of many species of geese and geese, and about the level of hunting pressure on them.
However, a real breakthrough in studying the migrations of geese and geese was the use of satellite transmitters, which became widespread since the early 1990s. Satellite tracking of individual individuals made it possible to obtain a complete picture of their life and migratory route: the places and timing of wintering grounds and the time of departure of birds from them, the speed and duration of flights, the duration of migration stops, nesting areas and molting areas, and many other interesting aspects of the life of geese. Some important wintering areas, migratory stopovers, nesting and molting areas were discovered precisely thanks to satellite tagging of birds.
So what do we know about the migrations of our Arctic geese and geese based on data from traditional banding, color tagging and satellite tracking? Some birds from European wintering grounds (black and barnacle geese, some white-fronted geese and bean goose) migrate to the Arctic exclusively via the Northwestern (White Sea-Baltic) flyway along the sea coasts of the North and Baltic seas, then over Lakes Ladoga and Onega and fly to the White Sea . Flying over the Onega Peninsula and the Kanin Peninsula or along their coasts, geese and geese reach the Barents Sea region, where some birds remain to nest in the mainland, island and coastal tundras, and some move along the coast further to the east, following the Yamal, Gydan and Taimyr peninsulas . The most important migration stops on this flyway are located in the river delta. Neman on the border of Russia and Lithuania, in northern Estonia, in Karelia in the east of Lake Ladoga and in the west of the Kanin Peninsula. To the east, there are practically no major spring migration stops, but some geese and geese regularly stop in different parts of the Barents Sea coast, mainly in areas of coastal meadows or marshes rich in valuable forage plants. During the autumn migration period, geese and geese actively use some areas of the eastern and western coasts of the Yamal Peninsula, where fairly large autumn migration stops are located.
Another branch of the spring flight of geese runs over the central regions of European Russia. It is actively used, first of all, by white-fronted geese and bean gooses. From their wintering grounds in Western Europe, some birds begin to move not along the coast, but fly in a broad front to the east, over the territory of Poland, Ukraine and Belarus, and then over the central regions of the European part of Russia. Large migration stops are known in the east of Belarus, and in Russia - in the Belgorod, Tver, Yaroslavl, Ivanovo, Kostroma, Vologda and Arkhangelsk regions. Next, the birds turn north and fly to the coast of the Barents Sea, where they either remain for nesting in the tundra of the Barents Sea region, or move further east to the tundra of northern Siberia. In autumn, most of the geese return to their wintering grounds by another – the White Sea-Baltic – flyway.
Birds from Eastern and South-Eastern Europe fly a completely different route. Flying over the territory of Ukraine or moving along the Black Sea coast, red-breasted geese, bean geese, and white-fronted geese fly to the area of the Kuma-Manych depression, where the most important migratory stopover areas are located around Lake Manych-Gudilo. Continuing further east, the birds cross the Caspian Sea, meeting with geese from their Western Asian wintering grounds. The next important migratory stopover area is located in the north and northeast of Kazakhstan, from where geese and geese migrate north through the Ob valley to their nesting grounds in the tundra of northern Siberia Russia.
The geese and geese of northeastern Russia also fly in three different ways. For wintering in China and Korea, some of the geese from the north of Yakutia fly over the mainland, crossing the vast expanses of the Yakut taiga, Transbaikalia, the south of the Far East and Mongolia on a broad front. Very little is known about migratory stopovers in this region.
Another part of the geese and geese wintering in East Asia migrate along the sea coasts of Chukotka, Kamchatka, the Kuril Islands and Sakhalin; major migratory stopovers of this flyway are known on the western and eastern coasts of the Kamchatka Peninsula and on Sakhalin.
White geese of Wrangel Island fly along the coast of Chukotka. Moving further east, the geese reach Alaska and migrate along the Pacific coast. Some birds, having flown to the mouths of the Fraser and Sillugamish rivers in British Columbia, remain here throughout the winter. The other part, not reaching the northern wintering area, turns east to the upper reaches of the river. Mackenzie, and from there it flies west to its wintering grounds in California.
Also along the coasts of Chukotka and further east, brent geese migrate, wintering along the Pacific coast of Canada and the USA.
***
What else do we know about geese migration?
Geese and geese are monogamous species that form pairs for life. Pair formation occurs in wintering areas, where birds from completely different parts of the range can meet. In the spring, birds fly to their nesting sites, with the male following the female, who strives for her birthplace. From the very first nesting, from year to year the pair will fly to the same place to give birth to a new generation. This attachment of females to the place of birth and, subsequently, to the place of first nesting is called nest conservatism, or philopatry. To one degree or another, philopatry is characteristic of all geese; Birds can often use the same nesting hole year after year.
In mid-summer, some birds leave their nesting areas and fly away to molt. These include young birds, birds that have lost their nests due to predation, and birds that, for one reason or another, have not started breeding. The flight to molting sites often has the character of a full migration. For example, a huge number of geese from all over the north of European Russia annually fly to the Taimyr Peninsula to moult, covering about one and a half thousand kilometers. And most of the non-breeding white-necked whitenecks from the North American population come to the lagoons of Northern Chukotka to molt.
In the fall, most of the chicks that fledge fly away with their parents and often spend the first winter with them. In the spring, some young birds migrate on their own, while others continue to stay with the older generation, returning to their place of birth.
Why are birds so eager to travel to the seemingly inhospitable Arctic? There is no exact answer to this question. However, there is no doubt that the vast and practically uninhabited spaces of the tundra are capable of providing sufficient territory for nesting for millions of birds, including such large ones as geese and geese. In addition, the feeding factor also becomes the most important in the Arctic: under polar day conditions, the continuous vegetation of plants makes it possible to replenish the energy reserves of many herbivores, including geese. Scientific studies conducted on barnacle geese have shown that, thanks to the polar day and the ability to feed almost around the clock, chicks born in the Arctic grow 30% faster than goslings born on the islands of the Baltic Sea!
Geese are an integral part of the Arctic ecosystem and a link between many regions of Eurasia and North America. Therefore, for many decades, geese have been one of the main objects of study in the Arctic. And the numerous studies currently underway, primarily using satellite telemetry, will add new knowledge about their lives every year.
Author:
Olga Pokrovskaya, Working Group on Anseriformes of Northern Eurasia.
Photos by the author (unless otherwise noted).
Flight Features
Preparations for departure begin in the spring. At the end of June - mid-July, adult birds molt. They climb deep into the reeds, where they try to be less noticeable to predators. At the end of August, the molting ends, and the wings of the young animals become stronger, which serves as the first signal for the upcoming migration.
Geese ready to travel form flocks of tens to hundreds of individuals. Departure time depends on the place where the birds spent the summer. Thus, geese fly away from the northern regions of Russia in mid-September, but inhabitants of mid-latitudes may delay their flight until October and even November. Birds rarely stay for the winter; this behavior is considered abnormal and is associated with climate change.
Birds fly in a line or wedge, rise to considerable heights and can cover enormous distances. The flight takes place during the daytime. Wild geese spend the night on the surface of the reservoir, resting and replenishing their strength with food. During the rest period, small flocks unite, but after its completion they break up and fly separately.
During the flight, weak birds may die, but the percentage of those who reached the final goal is still quite large.
Goose hunting equipment
Now let's talk a little about equipment. Surely, an attentive hunter has long wondered: how to camouflage on a bare sand spit, away from bushes, thickets of sedge and other grass? At one time, I racked my brains in exactly the same way. As a result, two methods were found.
1. Method one. A hole about two meters in size is dug in the sand. The dug sand is laid out as a parapet along the edges. Large cardboard boxes are used to cover the pit. The color of the cardboard (without the design) is very similar to the color of sand. Cardboard boxes are stacked in three stripes. The first strip covers the legs almost to the waist; the strip is sprinkled with sand. The second strip is cut in half, the edges are dug in, and the result is something like flaps that the hunter folds back, taking a sitting position. The third stripe covers the head.
2. Method two. The same hole is dug, a recumbent cover like an American one, which is covered with burlap, is installed in it.
Geese flight routes
There are two main directions - along the coast of the northern seas, across the Karelian Isthmus and along the Baltic Sea to Europe. And the second - along the Urals to Orenburg, Kazakhstan, Kalmykia, Dagestan, Stavropol. Accordingly, the further you move from these routes, the fewer birds you can see. It just so happens that Tver, Moscow, Vladimir, Nizhny Novgorod, part of the more southern regions of the Middle Zone, as well as the Black Earth Region and part of the Volga region are located far away from the flight directions.
More geese are found in the Yaroslavl region and to the north-west, as well as in the republics of Bashkiria and Tatarstan. The predicted hunting is possible in the Orenburg region, Kalmykia, Stavropol region, Rostov region, in the swamps of Karelia and the Leningrad region, on the sea coast of the Arkhangelsk region. However, this does not mean that hunting in these regions is easy. The factor of time and random circumstances plays an important and sometimes key role.
Summary
Geese are nomadic birds. A sharp drop in air temperature is a serious reason for moving them to regions with a milder climate. Powerful wings and a durable body allow them to make long, sometimes non-stop flights.
Mandatory conditions for a wintering site are the presence of a body of water (rivers, lakes or seas) that is rich in food and does not freeze for the winter. In search of wintering grounds, birds overcome endless steppes and oceans.
Preparation for departure begins after the completion of molting and the chicks fledging. The first duck wedges appear over the lake or river surface in September-October. When saying goodbye to the lands that shelter them, the birds make loud sounds, so even people uninitiated in the secrets of their wintering grounds know that they are flying away.
In autumn, flocks of birds flock to warmer regions. You can judge from them when autumn ends. Geese become such messengers, since they are among the last to fly away. When geese fly, returning to their homeland, they foretell the onset of the warmth of spring.
How long do ducks fly without stopping?
During the autumn migration, colder temperatures promote faster departure. Ducks
can move south
without stopping
, covering long distances - 150-200 km.
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Woodcock
- The smallest migratory bird nesting in Russia is the woodcock. It is also called the wood sandpiper.
- Woodcocks have a well-developed sense of homeland. Banding shows that each spring the birds return to exactly where they were born.
- The woodcock's eyes are located almost at the back of the head and rotate like periscopes, almost 360°. The bird can see the space around it without rotating its head.
- This bird is relatively small, not larger than a large pigeon. However, there are specimens weighing half a kilogram.
- Earthworms are the favorite delicacy of woodcock. Birds should be looked for in areas with good soil.
- During the migration period, woodcocks stop near bodies of water, where they hunt for mollusks and crustaceans.
Woodcock migration
Scientists have not yet discovered any special patterns in the migration of woodcocks to nesting sites.
In any case, in quantitative terms, birds can fly in a flock, alone, or in pairs. Moreover, the probability of seeing a large group of wood waders is much less than meeting one or two birds. If the weather is warm, then woodcocks can begin returning to the north as early as February, but the main flow of migrants begins three to four days after the appearance of the “first swallows”.
The wood sandpiper flies very quickly: it can cover up to 400 km in a day. The woodcock hunting season
lasts only a few days, usually in April. The deadlines are set specifically for each region - you can see them here.
Immediately after returning from warm regions, the males begin to “pull”. Birds fly around the territory at sunset and just before dawn in search of a mother for future offspring. To attract a female, woodcocks make peculiar sounds, which hunters call twittering and grunting. Females answer the call; Having seen the target, the males suddenly drop to the ground.
Spring migration is the best time for draft hunting, because at this short moment not only local but also visiting woodcocks are looking for a mate. During mass migration, the number of pulling birds increases two to three times compared to those days when migrating forest waders move further. True, this period lasts only a few days. Then only those birds that were born in this area remain.
Stuffed animals for goose hunting
The next question is the choice of stuffed animals and their quantity. In the fall, the goose is much less careful than in the spring, so I use few stuffed animals - six to eight pieces. Sometimes twelve.
All stuffed animals are full body, the manufacturer is not important. A decoy is required, and the return of shot geese is not uncommon. Birds at this time of year weigh little, so they fight well with a “three” even at extreme distances.
Where do geese live?
The vast majority of geese live in the Northern Hemisphere, they inhabit vast areas of forest and tundra zones of North America, Europe and Asia. Some species of geese live in Africa (semi-footed, spurred, Egyptian geese), South America (Magellanic and American wood geese), Australia (hen goose).
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Flight Features
Preparations for departure begin in the spring. At the end of June - mid-July, adult birds molt. They climb deep into the reeds, where they try to be less noticeable to predators. At the end of August, the molting ends, and the wings of the young animals become stronger, which serves as the first signal for the upcoming migration.
Geese ready to travel form flocks of tens to hundreds of individuals. Departure time depends on the place where the birds spent the summer. Thus, geese fly away from the northern regions of Russia in mid-September, but inhabitants of mid-latitudes may delay their flight until October and even November. Birds rarely stay for the winter; this behavior is considered abnormal and is associated with climate change.
Birds fly in a line or wedge, rise to considerable heights and can cover enormous distances. The flight takes place during the daytime. Wild geese spend the night on the surface of the reservoir, resting and replenishing their strength with food. During the rest period, small flocks unite, but after its completion they break up and fly separately.
During the flight, weak birds may die, but the percentage of those who reached the final goal is still quite large.
Summary
Geese are nomadic birds. A sharp drop in air temperature is a serious reason for moving them to regions with a milder climate. Powerful wings and a durable body allow them to make long, sometimes non-stop flights.
Mandatory conditions for a wintering site are the presence of a body of water (rivers, lakes or seas) that is rich in food and does not freeze for the winter. In search of wintering grounds, birds overcome endless steppes and oceans.
Preparation for departure begins after the completion of molting and the chicks fledging. The first duck wedges appear over the lake or river surface in September-October. When saying goodbye to the lands that shelter them, the birds make loud sounds, so even people uninitiated in the secrets of their wintering grounds know that they are flying away.
This wild goose belongs to the waterfowl of the Anatidae family. It got its name due to its color, which makes it similar to domestic geese. Among all varieties of geese, it is considered the largest bird: its body length reaches 90 cm, its weight ranges from 3 to 5 kg, and sometimes, under good conditions, can reach 6.5 kilograms. The gray goose can be classified as a long-livers, as there are known cases when in captivity a representative of this species lived up to 80 years.
Its plumage has a light gray color, the same in females and males; above and below the tail it turns white. There are black spots on the front of the belly and on the chest, the beak is flesh-colored, and the paws are bright pink. The main habitats of the gray goose are the Black Sea and Caspian coasts, the forests of Europe and the south of Siberia. In Belarus, they nest only in the floodplain of the Pripyat River and in the Vitebsk region; in other regions of the country they can only be seen during spring and autumn migrations to wintering grounds and back. Geese fly away for the winter in October, returning back in April, while the geography of the wintering areas of the greylag goose is very extensive; their flocks can be found on the African and European coasts of the seas, on the islands of Great Britain, in China, India, and a number of Arab countries. Flying long distances, they often stop to rest, where they can linger for a while to feed. The resting places for geese are floodplains and reservoirs located near winter fields and other farmland where food is available. At the feeding grounds, geese strictly adhere to a daily routine: in the morning, before sunrise, they take off from their roosting areas and go to the feeding area. These could be last year's fields of peas or corn, fields sown with winter crops, geese especially love fields where there are large puddles, they can be there all day. If there is no water in the field, then by midday they return to the pond to drink and clean their feathers. Towards evening they return to their feeding place again. After sunset, the geese fly to the pond for the night. During nesting, geese feed mainly on aquatic vegetation, removing its soft stems and roots from under the water.
Timing and associated factors of goose migration
Now let's figure out why and when geese fly in the fall. Everyone understands perfectly well that they fly from nesting sites to wintering grounds. The question is when they fly. It is worth noting that the spring flight to the north is delayed by the progress of spring, snow cover, and various natural quirks, which greatly extends it in time and space. In autumn there is no such stretch - the birds make “forced marches” from their nesting sites and as far as they have enough strength. And the strength is enough depending on the wind. If the wind is fair, north or northeast, then they can cover more than a thousand kilometers in a day. Then a short break and the throw again.
Birds can fly almost the entire country in three to five days, stopping only for short rests. Often the flight lasts all night, sometimes at such a height that the birds are distinguished with great difficulty. But we have a large country, the weather tends to change, so deviations and delays occur.
Geese are social birds and fly in flocks. One flock follows another. If a large number of flocks are moving at the same time, then the hunters say that a “wave” has started. This is a characteristic feature of autumn migration. The “wave” can last for different times, from two to three days to five to seven. However, such phenomena are typical for places of mass flight. If the hunting place is located to the side, then the “wave” consists of only a few flocks, with a total number of from two hundred to three hundred birds to a thousand. In addition to “waves,” there are also separate flocks that fly independently of others. It’s quite difficult for me to say what kind of birds these are, since I’m not a biologist, but an ordinary hunter. Most geese spend the entire summer in the tundra, but some birds, for example, immature young and geese nesting in the central zone, do not reach the tundra. And by autumn they begin to wander around the surrounding area and fly south. Perhaps they are the ones who migrate in separate flocks. Hunters sometimes encounter such flocks at the opening of the hunt in late August, although this phenomenon is quite rare. The bulk of the birds appear in the central zone after Nikita - the goose flight (September 28).
Moreover, over several years of observations, it is on this day (give or take a day) that I always see the first geese in the Nizhny Novgorod region. Then the migration begins, and the first peak occurs on October 1-5. What's interesting is that this period of time is also constant, but this is the last constancy. Subsequently, the birds fly chaotically until the second ten days of October. Then the meeting with the geese becomes accidental.
It is worth noting that it is possible to catch not all flying geese. As already noted, birds make a “forced march”, so they can transit an area. And they will not be interested in either stuffed animals or decoys. Who then should we hunt? Successful hunting is achieved on those birds that make stops or small local flights. Often the stopping places are the same from year to year. Next, I want to share some tactics and observations that gave good results.
What do wild geese look like?
Bean goosebumps live in Eurasia, in the tundra. Wild geese have a protective coloration. They have dark brown feathers, with a bluish-gray bloom and a light border. The back, upper neck, head and sides are much darker than the chest, underside of the neck and belly.
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