Welsh Journals

The Greenland White-fronted Goose A. D. Fox and D. A. Stroud The Greenland White-fronted Goose (Anser albifrons flavirostris) breeds in west Greenland and winters exclusively in Ireland, Scotland and Wales (Salomonsen 1950). It is the largest and most distinct subspecies of the circum-polar Whitefront, with other races nesting in North America and arctic Russia (Ploeger 1968). Greenland Whitefronts arrive on the wintering areas in early October and remain well into April, contrasting the later arrival and earlier departure dates of Russian Whitefronts which also winter in the British Isles (Owen et al. 1986). Russian Whitefronts (A. a. albifrons) tend to prefer short- grazed grasslands such as river meadows and inter- tidal saltings, while Greenland Whitefronts traditionally feed on underground over-wintering organs of peatland species such as White-beaked sedge (Rhynchospora alba) and Common cotton- grass (Eriophorum angustifolium) (Cadman 1953, 1956; Pollard & Walters-Davies 1968; Owen et al. 1986). Because of this unusual feeding method, the winter distribution corresponds with a mean January temperature of >3°C (i.e. areas experiencing few frosts to deny them of their buried food items), essentially restricting these geese to the northern and western fringes of the British Isles (Belman 1981). In their exhaustive review of the winter distribution and abundance of Greenland Whitefronts, Ruttledge & Ogilvie (1979) estimated the world population in the 1950s at 17,500-23,000 birds, but by the late 1970s, numbers had fallen to 14,300- 16,600. Much of the decline can be attributed to habitat loss as peatlands have been drained, cut for peat and afforested (Ruttledge & Ogilvie 1979). In Ireland, where the decline has been most dramatic, there was a drastic loss of peatland sites (Reynolds 1984; Ryan & Cross 1984), a pattern also occurring in Wales (Ratcliffe & Hattey 1982). Until its protection in Scotland under The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, shooting pressure further inhibited any recovery of this, one of the worlds' rarest geese. Although protected by a voluntary self-imposed ban on shooting by wildfowlers on the Dyfi Estuary in mid-Wales since 1972, it is still legitimate quarry in the rest of England and Wales, in Wales Iceland and for part of the year in Greenland. The present shooting ban in Ireland, lasting a trial three years, is about to be reconsidered (probably lifted) and the characteristically low productivity of Greenland Whitefronts gives considerable cause for concern (Ogilvie 1978; Owen 1978; Fox et al. 1983). In response to this decline, two expeditions were mounted to west Greenland in 1979 and 1984 to study the breeding ecology of the geese, while regular co-ordinated international counts have been established on the wintering grounds to assess population trends (Stroud 1984; Forestry and Wildlife Service, Dublin unpublished). The serious decline in numbers is nowhere better demonstrated than in Wales, where numbers of Greenland Whitefronts have fallen from possibly over 1100 to less than 100 during the present century. Such a catastrophic decrease at the five traditional sites in the Principality deserves more detailed treatment than that given by Ruttledge and Ogilvie (1979) or Stroud (1984). The present paper documents the past and present status in Wales. Distribution is described by ornithological recording areas for convenience. Denbighshire and Flintshire (Clwyd) There appear no regular records of Greenland Whitefronts from Denbigh (Jones & Roberts 1983) or Flint (Done et al. 1968), although there are several recent records from the Dee (Hardy in litt.). Cardiganshire (Dyfed) While a great deal of confusion prevails, it would seem that there have been two major and separate flocks in Cardiganshire, at Cors Caron (Tregaron Bog) and on the Dyfi Estuary. For the purposes of discussion the two are treated separately here. Much of the information from the latter part of the last century and the early part of this comes from the diaries of Professor J. H. Salter of the Botany Department, University College of Wales, and there are very few other accounts of the geese at that time. Dyfi Estuary and Cors Fochno (Borth Bog). In spite of memories of geese going back as far as can be remembered, it appears that the first