Ganzentrek van Assen tot aan ’t wad

In order to unravel geese movements in the northern Netherlands, simultaneous counts of geese flights were performed in March 1986 and 1987 on counting posts 3 km apart from one another (Fig. 1, Table 1). These data were complemented with radar observations from Airport Eelde in northern Drenthe. All together, 11,551 geese were recorded in 304 flocks, mainly White-fronted Geese Anser albifrons (80%) and Bean Geese A. fabalis (10%). Considerable differences between countings posts were related to locations of roosts and foraging sites. Apparently, geese partly used leading lines, such as canals and railways, to fly from one site to another.