North Essex: flyaway geese cause stir at Abberton

7:10am Tuesday 19th August 2008

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FLYAWAY fowl have been causing a flap among bird-watchers.

Twitchers were stunned to spot red-breasted geese at Abberton Reservoir, near Colchester – as the species is fromRussia.

However, experts claim it is unlikely the birds have travelled thousands of miles.

They say red and yellow tags around their feet are the giveaway clue that they have escaped from a private UK collection.

A spokesman for the Essex Wildlife Trust said red-breasted geese occasionally touch down in the area in the winter, after getting mixed up with migrating flocks of brent geese.

But she added: “These ones are definitely escapees.”

Dougal Urquhart, ranger at Essex County Council’s Cudmore Grove Country Park in East Mersea, said: “People do keep red-breasted geese in private collections, sometimes just in their gardens.

“If they were wild, you would not be able to get anywhere near them.

“They are stunning-looking geese and, as they have fetched up at Abberton, people might be interested to go and have a look.”

Simon Mole, of West Mersea, who snapped these photos, said: “I showed a picture of them around a pub and only a couple of people knew of them.

“I guessed, as they were ringed, they might have escaped from somewhere.”