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What Does The Barnacle goose look Like ?
A medium-sized, sociable goose, with black head, neck and breast with creamy-white face, which contrasts with the white belly, blue-grey barred back and black tail. It flies in packs and long lines, with a noisy chorus of barking or yapping sounds.. In Britain a winter visitor between October to April
These Geese where grazing at the South end of Ullswater in the lake District March 2006 and are from the Spitzbergen flock as opposed to the Greenland Flock
How big Is It ?
Aprox 58 - 69 cm , weighing 1.4 - 1.6 kg
Where does it live?
Breeding
In accessible hilltops, cliffs, slopes and islands
with nearby coasts or rivers with plenty of grass and other vegetation
to graze.
When does it Breed ?
June to July , 3 - 5 eggs, Incubation 24 - 25 days , young fledging at 6 - 7 weeks, One to Two Broods per Year . Nests on cliff ledges
Wintering
Saltmarshes, lowland fields near coasts, and offshore
islands with suitable grassland.
Where to see it
Largest numbers on the Solway Firth (England and Scotland) and on Islay,
Scotland.
What does it eat?
Leaves, stems, roots and seeds, grass shootsw. catkins of tundra willows, in winter clover, seeds.
What does it sound like?
A high, barking note. - hoarse polysylabilic call "grigigrigi2 remenescent of distant barking dogs
When to see it
October until March.