Rare red-breasted goose visits WWT Caerlaverock
Staff at the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust's (WWT) Caerlaverock Wetland Centre in Scotland did a double take this morning. Amongst the many thousands of Barnacle geese feeding on the reserve was a lone Red-breasted goose.
An endangered species listed on the IUCN Red List, these birds usually spend the winter in Bulgaria or Romania, migrating from Arctic Russia where they breed during the summer months.
The Red-breasted goose population has suffered a staggering 56% decline in the past 10 years and is the subject of a major conservation project by WWT looking into the issues of illegal hunting, loss of habitat and agricultural changes affecting the species.
How this lone bird came to be so far off course is a mystery. Brian Morrell from WWT Caerlaverock was one of those who spotted the stunning bird this morning. He said: "I was scanning the flock when lo and behold a Red-breast! As you can see from the pictures it is a fine looking adult bird. Where it has come from is a big question, but we have had some northerly gales over the last week or so, so who knows?"
