ORVILLE AND HOWARD STILL GOING STRONG
27/9/07
Today marks the 500th day for which we have recorded Orville's continuous movements. The longevity of his transmitter is unprecedented amongst any of the Brent we have ever tracked. In the 500 days since we tracked him from Iceland he crossed the Greenland ice-cap 4 times now and flown around 15,000km!
The last report of Howard was when he was recaptured and his non-functioning transmitter was removed. He was observed last week on the shores of Strangford Lough with about 19,000 other Brent - his unique leg-ring colour/codes (CP red-yellow) identifying him beyond doubt.
ORVILLE EXITS CANADA AND MAKES REMARKABLE PROGRESS TO ICELAND
15/9/07
Orville left Canadian territory on 4th September, crossing Baffin Bay and the Davis Strait that day and arriving on the W Greenland coast on 5th September. He stayed there south of Disco Island on the Greenland mainland for about 4 days. On 10th September he started his traverse of the Greenland ice-cap, crossing the 800km mammoth inland ice (at altitudes of up to 2000m) in 9 hours or less! His onward journey to W Iceland seems to have been pretty continuous, arriving east of Olafsvik on the tip of the Snaefellsness peninsula on the morning of the 11th September.
Within Iceland, Orville has returned to what is obviously his favourite part of the country - the large sandy bay at Akrar in Faxafloi. He moved there in spring 2006 from his capture site in the south-west, was there autumn 2006 and last spring too!
Orville's movements within Canada
Orville continues to give us positions in the breeding range. He has been on North Kent Island (between Ellesmere and Devon Islands) and in August moved to the northern coastline of Devon Island. Late in August and still there, Orville moved to Graham Island which lies between Ellesmere/Devon Islands and Axel Heiberg Island to the north.
We would anticipate that there are now large groups of Brent in good feeding areas, many of which will be embarking on their migration to Iceland. No doubt the nadguard are already in Iceland. Small number shave already been observed in Ireland!
A good breeding year
The first of two trips to the breeding range over the summer of 2007 took place in late June. An Irish/Icelandic team joined forces with a team of biologists from the Canadian Wildlife Service and worked out of the meteorolgical station and military base of Eureka on the western coast of Ellesmere Island. At 80 degress North this is just below the line of permanent ice (which continues to the North Pole) and our previous tracking had shown us that some of our birds had passed this area on their way North.
Onto the Brent in a moment. The other wildlife in June was amazing. Making maximum use of the 24 hours of daylight in the short arctic summer, the vast polar desert landscape was full of breeding waders - albeit at incredibely low densities: Ruddy Turnstones (which migrate to Britain and Ireland via Iceland like the Brent), Red Knot, Sanderling and Purple Sandpiper were busy nest-building; Long-tailed Skuas (called Jaegers locally), Glaucous Gulls, Long-tailed Duck, King Eider, Snowy Owl, Red-throated Diver (called Loons locally) and Arctic Terns were all getting on with breeding also.
Bigger creatures we observed were Musk Oxen, Caribou, Arctic Wolf and Polar Bears.
Our most significant finding was of breeding Brent Geese at reasonably high densities on some islands. Amazingly we found two individuals breeding which were previously ringed in Northern Ireland. About 2,500 miles from where these birds spend the winter, here they are busy sitting on eggs! Incredible. We will bring some pictures of the follow-up trip (in late July) shortly.
Orville in Canada
With his tag now functioning for approximately 400 days, Orville has now spent some weeks in the Canadian Arctic. His location is somewhere on the northern coast of North Kent Island - which lies between southern Ellesmere Island and Devon Island, and just west of Hell Gate.
His route there took him a little behind normal schedule, departing Iceland in the first half of June and arriving in Devon Island via. W Greenland and the traditional ice-cap traverse by the third week of the month.
We actually flew very close to this island in early July when he was there. From that visit we had first-hand evidence that conditions in the southern portion of the breeding grounds at that time were pretty harsh.
The sea was mostly frozen with few open water leads and conditions on the groud may have made it difficult for breeding birds. Orville's later-than-average arrival combined with these conditions mean that he almost certainly will join a number of birds who have either not tried breeding or tried and failed. Such are the risks of breeding well inside the Arctic Circle!
Howard recaught
On several occassions Howard came close to being recaught in SW Iceland during late May. Indeed the team there payed particularly close attention to him as he was certainly catchable and his tag was no longer giving us any data. The mission was thus to catch and remove the satellite tag which was not providing us with any information.
In late May, the task was accomplished and Howard was recaptured. His transmitter and harness were removed and on inspection it appeared that there was no sign of abrasion or any difficulties. Other than the reason for us getting no data from the tag was probably because the solar panel was quite often covered by feathers.
After Howard was released he was seen behaving quite normally again with other birds and indeed maybe even finding a new mate. His absence by early June suggested that he departed with most of the migrating Brent.
Two weeks and counting
For some weeks now the vast majority of the 30,000 strong Brent Goose population have been in Iceland where they are busy stocking up for the next step of the migration through Greenland to Arctic Canada. Spread over about a dozen main sites along the west coast, they are feeding on inter-tidal areas when the tide is out and on land when the tide is in. Of course spring has arrived in Iceland and the length of the feeding day affords them the chance to eat fresh and nutritious vegetation round the clock!
Our two tagged geese are in two different places. Orville is north of where he was caught last spring but in the same Zostera-rich area as he spent some of last autumn - Straumfjordur/Hjorsey. Howard (pictured) is enjoying the more refined location on the Presidential grounds and surrounds near Reykjavik.
Deja vu for Orville
Admittedly slightly warmer than when he was last there, Orville - the goose we have managed to continuously track without technology letting us down - has made landfall in western Iceland. His location is very close to where he spent some time last autumn and his transmitter has now been functioning for around 350 days!
While we are missing data on the northward journey from southern Ireland, we know he was in Waterford on 2nd May and in western Iceland on the 5th. Caught in southwest Iceland last May we have thus successfully tracked his movements in both directions, across Canada, Greenland, Iceland, Scotland and Ireland and all the seas in between.
Howard returns!
26/4/07
One year on and we have one transmitting goose and one not transmitting but retracing his steps around the Presidential grounds in SW Iceland. Yes, Howard has returned, being observed on Sunday and thereafter photographed eating Presidential grass. He most likely spent the remainder of the winter around Strangford Lough but you may remember we lost electronic contact with him in the late autumn.
Given the loyalty of these geese to staging areas, there is a good chance that we might see some of the other geese with transmitters in the vicinity (without functioning transmitters). Some 1,000km south, Orville has been moving around the southern Irish coast. The most recent movement this week saw him move a little west along the Waterford coast from Tramore to Dungarvan. At present we're getting data every 3 days from him so fingers crossed he will make it up to Iceland shortly. As he was caught at the site where Howard is currently at there's a good chance he'll end up there again.
Brent-watchers in Ireland, Scotland and Iceland have been out and about keenly following movements of migrating Brent Geese. We have had impressive observations of individually-marked birds (with unique plastic leg-rings) in successive days in Ireland, the Western Isles (Scotland) and arriving in Iceland; even a four day gap between an individual being seen in northern France and turning up in Iceland! The balance of Brent has now shifted towards Iceland and it is probably fair to say that up to 50% of the population are distributed each in Ireland and Iceland. The favourable south-easterly winds and current high pressure setting conditions make perfect conditions for northward migration.
Orville changes county but remains in Ireland
13/4/07
We have just got a high quality position from Orville's transmitter revealing that on the evening of 11th April he was at Tramore Backstrand, Co. Waterford. This is a favoured Brent site and typically in excess of 500 Brent would be in this area in late winter. His position was coincident with one of three Zostera beds at the northern edge of the inner bay. Latest reports were of just several hundred Brent at the location in Iceland where Orville was caught - about 10% of what will be there within the next four weeks. Hearing waders migrating overhead tonight, clear skies and a south-easterly tailwind it seems likely that large numbers of birds might just take the plunge anytime.
This is my beach!
21/03/07
As if proof were needed, we received a cracking picture of Orville from one of our keen observers on the south coast of Ireland. He appears not just fine but clearly prepared to fight for his spot on the beach. The picture tells a thousand words and you could always have some fun putting a caption to it. This was taken about a fortnight ago at Fethard-on-sea in Co. Wexford. The first Brent might be expected to head north for Iceland in the next week or so and increasingly so throughout April.
Orville frequenting the Wexford coast
11/02/2007
Following a temporary loss of signal, Orville's transmitter has again given us fresh positions - for the Wexford coast at a Brent site known as the Cull. Positions there yesterday (9th February). Unfortunately Howard's transmitter has not given us any recent signals.
Orville moves further south
30/01/2007
While Howard's transmitter is giving us no data, thank goodness for good old Orville. His unit continues to work well. He was frequently observed around North Bull Island in Dublin and was photographed there. Just last week he disappeared. On 26th January we got accurate positions for Orville at Bannow Bay on the south Wexford coast in Ireland's south-east. The very last positions with lower accuracy indicate that he may have moved a little further east, to join flocks in and around the Wexford Slobs. Mid-January finds many thousands of geese at around a half-dozen coastal sites in Co. Wexford and these birds will on the whole remain there until early April - unless the food runs out!
Orville still in Dublin
18/01/2007
While we're still not getting satellite positions for Howard, he remains in southern Strangford Lough, having been seen there recently.
Orville's transmitter, on the other hand, has been giving us some signals. The most recent of these has been on 12th January, indicating his continued presence in coastal Co. Dublin.
Orville moves south and Howard observed
15/12/2006
New data in today came both via the internet and mobile phone. Howard's location was relayed by the latter means, his location identified through a visual observation on one of the small islands on the southern edge of Strangford Lough where there is a flock of 400 or so Brent currently. That's about 5-6km (as the goose flies) south of where he was caught in April.
Orville's position was revealed not by an observation but thankfully by his transmitter. Though a poor quality fix suggesting he was inland, it seems highly likely that he is actually somewhere in coastal Dublin this afternoon.
At this time of year many of the Strangford birds which have staged there previously either stop in Dublin or continue farther south - many will pass through. We don't know what Orville will decide to do, but he is probably amongst up to 3,000 Brent which in this region are very much "urban" geese for the remainder of the winter (inhabiting football pitches, public parks and golf courses for example). Quite a sight!
Howard back "on line"
09/12/2006
Now receiving data at weekly intervals we were expecting an update on Orville's position last week (he moved from the west side of Strangford Lough to the eastern shore on 1st December). There is nothing fresh there but the exciting news is that Howard's transmitter has now given us signals again.
On 8th December he had moved from where he was observed towards the NW corner of Strangford, to one of the islands on the southern shore. These sorts of movements within Strangford are quite typical as birds seek out relatively profitable undepleted Zostera beds. Soon they will be feeding on grasslands, the majority of Zostera having been depleted.
The same pattern operates at a larger scale; numbers of Brent at Strangford and the other main autumn staging areas will continue to drop and consequently numbers at other sites will increase towards their annual maxima. We will continue to keep an eye on Howard, Orville and the other geese and report on movements.
Howard at Strangford Lough.
Photo by Kerry Mackie/WWT