The following letter was published in the Crediton Courier in the Friday 19 th October 2018

issue, in response to a letter published the previous week (Friday 12 th October) entitled ‘A
wild goose chase?’, written by Mr K. O’Connell.

________________________________________________________________________

I am a local birdwatcher and BTO surveyor who has lived in Devon for almost my whole life. I now spend
much of my time studying in London, but still travel home semi-frequently and monitor former local patches
of mine.
I have a particular interest in waterfowl, and conduct independent annual studies of their movements,
breeding patterns and population densities. Shobrooke Park is a site I have monitored for well over 10 years,
and the Canada Goose population there is likely to be one of the most substantial in Devon.
Numbers this summer, for instance, have been as high as 219 individuals, with multiple broods of goslings
raised - including one hybrid offspring between a resident Canada Goose and an escapee non-native Bar
Headed Goose that has been present in the area since 2014.
Because of the size of the population at the site there are a number of reasons why the birds become more
nomadic and take more flights around the local area during the autumn and winter months. For a start, a
certain proportion of the UK's Canada Geese are joined by migratory birds of the same species from
Scandinavia in the later months of the year, meaning that increased numbers of the birds will be likely to be
arriving in the area and flying to the park as they do every year.
Their return journeys in the early months of 2019 will no doubt cause more passage flights to be viewed also
from Crediton.
The majority of Canada Geese in the UK, however, are descended from ornamental stock released hundreds
of years ago. (Shobrooke Park itself was, I believe, a key release site for the original populations - hence the
size of the Canada Goose population there to this day.)
Most of these birds therefore do not travel in the winter, though a certain element of instinct will cause many
of them to be inclined to move to other areas to find improved food sources or alternative territories.
Because of these combined reasons the birds do indeed, as Mr O'Connell correctly observes, tend to take
more flights over the town in the later months of the year. It's wonderful to hear that there is such interest in
the Shobrooke population of the birds. They have given me great joy over the years of watching them.

Kind regards
T. M. Mylett / @london_birder on twitter

LONDON BIRDER / T. M. MYLETT 2018

INDEPENDENT WILDFOWL AND GENERAL ORNITHOLOGICAL STUDIES
(INCLUDING BTO SURVEYS)
Yearly data analysis and reports on a wide range of sites in Devon, Greater London, and elsewhere
in the south of the UK.
Contact for more information and for data requests (all data must be credited to myself)
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email: londonbirder@gmail.com