Pink-footed Geese in brilliant sunshine

I spent almost the whole of the daylight hours on Saturday (8th October) around Levanger and Skogn watching Pink-footed Geese Anser brachyrhynchus (N=kortnebbgås). There were about 5,100 Pink-feet near Levanger, and a further 4,150 near Skogn. The day started off rather cold, in fact the sideroads were slippy first thing, but once the sun appeared over the horizon it warmed up, to a maximum of 13-14 Celsius. Apart from some heat haze at times, the conditions were ideal for observing geese.

Part of a flock of 5,100 Pink-footed Geese near Levanger.

Fiborgtangen, Skogn is an important roost site for Pink-footed Geese, here together with Whooper Swans Cygnus cygnus (N=sangsvane). Fiborgtangen is under a lot of pressure from industry, and the area is being filled in with waste stone from a quarry being used to store paper ash from the neighbouring paper mill. The company, Norske Skog, are destroying a site which is designated an Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA). Not only geese and swans, but a whole host of other waterbirds and waders are under threat due to habitat destruction.

Coming in for landing.