Until the 1980 s, wintering of Bean Geese was uncommon in the province of Drenthe. Their occurrence was mainly restricted to a few haunts, such as Dwingelderveld, Diependal, Fochteloerveen/Esmeer, De Krim, Leeksfermeer area, Paterswolder Meer and Zuidlaardermeer. The wintering population mostly belonged to the nominate (yellow-billed) taiga race A. f. fabalis, usually with some tens up to several hundreds of geese. The West-Siberian tundra race A.s. rossicus was normally observed in low numbers. From the late 1980 s onwards, increasing numbers of Tundra Bean Geese started to visit the haunts in Drenthe and quickly established regular wintering sites in Fochtelogrveen/Esmeer, Dwingelderveld, Diependal, De Krim, Zuidlaardermeerand Nieuw Buinen. During the second half of the 1990 s they also started to use the Bargerveen peat bog relic after the water level had been raised in this nature reserve. Whereas numbers of wintering Tundra Bean Geese in Drenthe annually increased, the wintering population of yellow-billed Taiga Bean Geese continued to decline during the late 20,h century. Meanwhile, numbers of Taiga- and Tundra Bean Geese of eastern origin increased in Drenthe, like they did in other geese haunts in The Netherlands. This novel situation resulted in a wintering population frequently exceeding 80.000 individuals, of which the majority belonged to the Western Siberian Tundra race A.s. rossicus. The Eastern Siberian Tundra race A.s, serrirostris sometimes numbered 10.000 individuals or more. The numbers of wintering blackbilled Taiga Bean Geese also have increased during recent years. The majority of this population most likely originates from breeding grounds located east of the Ural Mountains (so-called 'black-billed fabalis birds'), of which over 5000 hove been wintering in Drenthe during the lost few years. Also, a small number of Western Siberian Taiga Geese A.f. johanseni (probably less than 1000 birds) have been wintering in Drenthe, especially in the Fochteloerveen-area. Last but not least, on 3 January 2004 15 Sushkins Bean Geese A.f. neglectus were observed at Fochteloerveen.