Nene geese are an endangered species, so sadly there are not that many of them in the wild. I believe that they are the rarest geese in the world. I've seen them at Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust centres here in the UK, where there is a successful breeding project. They're tiny, in goose terms.
Krissttina, that's probably why they are tagged in your video with numbers, endangered as Tom mentioned. They're so pretty. I wonder why they're endangered. They have the sweetest sound. Instead of "honk honk" it's "uh huh" with their beak closed.
This reminds me of my father-in-law who told me his exploits during the hunting season. He and his hunting buddies would go for the deer and wild boar but sometimes they bring guns that are fit for birds. When there are wild geese around, they would imitate the sound so that the geese would not notice their approach. My husband said that his father used to bring home about 5 dressed geese and sometimes there were boiled goose eggs. The geese normally inhabit the swampy area in the forest. Here in our place, there are loose geese around and sometimes I take their photo when they come near the front of our house. They seem to be looking for insects maybe. But I haven't tried to honk, hahahaaa.
We've had quite a lot of geese flying over in the past few weeks. Most of them are Barnacle Geese, coming down from Norway, where they breed up in the Arctic Circle. Most, if not all, will be heading for Caerlaverock, a nature reserve on the Solway Firth in the south-west of Scotland. Barnacle Geese are quite a success story. There were only around 300 of them at Caerlaverock some forty years ago, but now the numbers are something like 40,000.
Krissttina has some endangered Nene Geese in Hawaii. I wonder if they could learn any techniques from Caerlaverock? (the researchers, not the geese)
The Caerlaverock reserve is owned by the Wildfowl and Wetlands trust, which has nine centres in the UK. The WWT runs a breeding programme for those Hawaiian geese and I've seen the birds at Arundel, which is in the south of England. Caerlaverock attracts vast numbers of swans, geese and ducks - migrating birds come down from Norway and Iceland in particular. Whooper Swans always arrive in big numbers and are one of my personal favourites. Curious fact: every Whooper Swan has a unique pattern on its bill, so just like human fingerprints, you can identify every individual.
Something Told the Wild Geese by Rachel Field Something told the wild geese It was time to go, Though the fields lay golden Something whispered, "snow." Leaves were green and stirring, Berries, luster-glossed, But beneath warm feathers Something cautioned, "frost." All the sagging orchards Steamed with amber spice, But each wild breast stiffened At remembered ice. Something told the wild geese It was time to fly, Summer sun was on their wings, Winter in their cry.
Brought to my mind the Mary Oliver poem which I had forgotten: "WILD GEESE" by Mary Oliver "Tell me about your despair, yours, and I will tell you mine..." You do not have to be good. You do not have to walk on your knees For a hundred miles through the desert, repenting. You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves. Tell me about your despair, yours, and I will tell you mine. Meanwhile the world goes on. Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain are moving across the landscapes, over the prairies and the deep trees, the mountains and the rivers. Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air, are heading home again. Whoever you are, no matter how lonely, the world offers itself to your imagination, calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting -- over and over announcing your place in the family of things.