30.05 Lost and found

In one of the previous posts I wrote that all but one are in Svalbard. I of course forgot about Mr. travelling goose - R53. He left Vesterålen 3 days ago and is now heading North.

31.05 A little detour

Johny left Vesterålen last thursday (24.05) and is heading North. On the way to Svalbard he stopped on... Bear Island. This is rather unusual and these geese will never stop surprising me.

Let get closer look at his track. The below marked part of his flight took him 20h to travel with an average speed of 2.75 km/h.

I thought that he must have had encountered very heavy wind and it slowed him down and 'force' to get a rest on land. I checked wind speed and direction data for these two days (data come from www.yr.no) and surprisingly this was not the case. There was light to moderate breeze that day (7-10 m/s) blowing from south and south-east. Maybe he was resting on the water surface. 

However when he decided to continue north, the wind changed direction and was blowing from north. Maybe this was the reason why he turned and headed towards the island. I am looking forward to get more news.

23.05 All but one....

... in Svalbard.

Johnny is the only one left in Vesterålen. He was seen paired up there so hopefully he will head soon to Svalbard. I am glad R53 made it up North after short stop on Leka Island. I was getting worried about this 'weird, travelling' goose.
Up North, geese seem to invade western part of the archipelago, which I assume it less covered by snow than the eastern part.

16.05 All good things come to an end

Trøndelag is slowly getting abandoned. Jannik saw big flocks heading North today and the one which are still here are scarse and very small (usually less than 100 birds). This also mean that it is time to go home (wherever home is). I will certainly miss such pictures:

Such weather:

All these creatures around:

..and colours

So time to go home? Yes

I will of course still keep you updated but not from the battle field anymore.

16. 05 First-come first-served

Three geese (Lukasz, Ingunn and R58) are racing down to Svalbard. Similarly as last year, Lukasz did not stop in Vesterålen. He rested some hours on the water south from Vesterålen and than headed to the North. R58 only stopped for few hours, probably for some grassy tea and flew towards Svalbard. Now is time to eat, find a cosy spot for a nest and again... become a daddy.

15.05 ... and in the lightness bind them

R53 on his way North. And again, this goose will never stop surprising me, he stopped on Leka Island.

R53 heading North

Stopping on Leka Island

14.05 One Ring(ed) to rule them all...

what means only R53 left in Trøndelag. Lukasz and R58 are on their way North. OK, there is still R33 somewhere here (probably), but since we do not receive any signals, he is invisible.

13.05 Chris, where are you?

Christane's tag has stopped working properly some months ago (already on the wintering grounds) but from time to time we get some signals that he is alive. Yesterday he called us from Vellamelen, northern part of the goose land. This goose has lost neckband as well. I will give half my goose kingdom  to the one who can spot this goose.

13.05 Moving North

Winter is back in Vesterålen. Yesterday we had to spot our geese in between hailing storms and sunny weather. So better move North:) No new geese flew from Trøndelag to Vesterålen recently. Up North, each of the goose seems to occupy different area.

10.5 Johnny the goose

As I wrote, R62 has already flown North. Although we decided not to name our new birds this year, this goose has to be an exception. Johnny Bakken is our goose observer in Vesterålen. He assisted in tagging R62 in Denmark and he was also the first one to spot it in Vesterålen this year. So here it is, Johnny the goose. Welcome in our team.

Fluffy Johnny spotted by Johnny in Vesterålen 9th of May (Photo: J. Bakken)

Fluffy Johnny hold by Johnny back in Denmark

10.5 Bio-riddle

What does not fit on this picture?

10. 5 Three boys in the North

Ingunn, Danuta and R62 are already in Vesterålen. For Ingunn it took 5h to get to the northern Norway what means that he flew 83 km/h. Wow, this is more than I can speed on most of the roads here in Trøndelag. Danuta took it a bit more easy and got north in 19h what means 25 km/h. Again, still more than I can reach with my city bike in Roskilde. R62 was in between: 7h flight and 61 km/h. Congratulations guys!

 Trøndelag is still filled with geese. Birds are all over the places, invading new sown and germinating fields. Huge flocks can be observed camouflaged on the brownish-grayish fields.
Trøndelag is turning green: many fields are germinating, birch trees are getting small leaves and some flowers are already flowering. Beautiful:)

Geese feeding on new sown fields

8.5 Danuta races down to Vesterålen

Danuta is the first tagged bird to reach Vesterålen. It is a pity, because for the second day in a row we have super-hyper-bright sunshine. But welcome to the North!!!!

7.5 To the moon and back

Yesterday I got very excited when I downloaded the positions. R53, Mr. travelling man (goose) is now in Svalbard. This is super early but I thought that if it ever happens, it has to be this goose. Than I got a bit skeptical when I realised that he travelled from Trøndelag to Svalbard in one hour and came back an hour later. It was just a GPS polar joke. I am glad he is here.

8.5 Where the grass is greener- following the 'green wave'

When the geese arrive to Trøndelag, vegetation is just waking up after winter. Now, almost at the end of the season, everything is green and springy. First picture I took 26th of April and the bottom one 8 days later. There is a difference (no photoshop used:)

7.5 Afternoon tea on the same fields

Lukasz (pink) and R53 (yellow) which are usually seen apart, spent today's afternoon on the same fields and at the same time. Trøndelag is under change: most fields are already ploughed and some re-sown. Geese can be observed now in the huge flocks (up to 2 500) feeding on this very energetic food source.

6.5 Welcome dead man

Today we got a signal from R33. He is on his way back from Moria and hopefully we can get more signals soon. He is now close to Levanger (Mid-Trøndelag). So welcome dude!

4. 05 Are geese getting ready to Euro 2012?

4.05 Should I stay or should I go?

Geese can be divided into two groups: the one staying in one spot and accommodating to 'local' conditions and the one which cannot keep their butts in one spot, exploring the area. 
Here are two exemplas:
R58 has visited almost all possible areas in Trøndelag and on the way to Trøndelag stopping in the middle of Norway (and nowhere) and by the Trondheim airport

On the other hand, Danuta prefers staying around the church in Mære

I am a bit like R58: always have to check if the grass is not greener behind the corner:)