Canada Goose

A fairly common introduced resident, mostly on the coast and at CVL and BL where numbers increase during the summer moult.

The largest count is 905 at CVL on 30th June, 1996. 

It is also an uncommon breeder, with Bristol Water taking measures to control breeding at the reservoirs, see Vinicombe (2020). However, pairs are scattered widely, Bland and Dadds (2012) say breeding was proved in 43 tetrads and estimated at least 100 pairs. 

This status is only quite recent, with Davis (1947) describing it as ‘occasional winter visitor, eight were shot near Bleadon during severe weather in 1916, a party of nine reported from BL in 1935’ and the species was still being treated as a local rarity in 1963. 

All published records prior to the first modern successful local breeding are shown below: 

1831 – shot at Kingston Seymour on January 1st Palmer and Ballance (1968) 

1860s – bred at East Clevedon Palmer and Ballance (1968) 

1935 – nine at BL [SBR]7 

1956 – one with Whitefronts at CVL from March 4th until 25th 

1957 – bred unsuccessfully at CVL8 Palmer and Ballance (1968) 

1959 – SGW on June 9th 

1962 – up to 48 at CVL from January 6th until 21st, one at BL on January 9th 

1963 – Yeo Estuary on February 17th, two at CVL on various dates between early March and mid-April, three at CVL on April 30th

1964 – CVL on September 20th [SBR] 1965 – 16 on Claverham9 Moor on October 26th 1966 – three at R. Axe on April 24th 1968 – three at Horseshoe Bend on R Avon on October 23rd10, three at CVL on December 29th 1969 – BL on April 1st [SBR] 1971 – three at CVL from July 25th until April 1972 with two there into 1973 when three young reared; all five remained into 1974 when four young were raised