What could persuade three Dubliners, none of them real birders, just people who put out food for their garden visitors, to climb into their car on one of the wettest days of the month and travel some 70 miles to Wexford through the rain there and back. Rain, rain, rain all the time. It was curiosity, of course; they wanted to see, in particular, the white-fronted geese which are the big, but not the only attraction, at the Wexford north slobs. Curiosity and a sense of wonder. And Wings, the quarterly of BirdWatch Ireland had just published a splendidly illustrated article in which it detailed the tracking of these birds back to their breeding grounds in Greenland. It was the first time migratory geese had been successfully followed from Ireland, using remote sensory technology. There is a photo of one of the birds with a satellite transmitter being installed on its back. The information was to be transmitted back to Duchas and to the National Environmental Research Institute in Denmark.
Aim of the experiment was to identify the resting and feeding stations on the way, so that steps could be taken to protect the birds from various dangers and disturbances. A clear map in colour shows what a journey the birds face. Six male geese were so equipped. The transmitters each weighted 30 grammes. They were programmed to transmit for eight hours at a time and to "sleep" for twenty-nine hours, which would give the battery a life of ninety-two days; that is, that fitted in March they would last through the migration and into the breeding season. The geese left Ireland between the 14th and 18th April of this year, flying out over Tory Island. North of Reykjavik on Iceland, the geese rested and fed for about 18 days, then left, crossing "the partially frozen strait" to Greenland. A short stop in eastern Greenland and on again. Three of the birds with transmitters still working reached west Greenland around May 10th. After about nine days rest, they flew on, reaching their "summering areas" on 18th, 20th and 21st May respectively.
Surprisingly the transmitters were signalling in September and on 21st September two of the geese were still in Greenland, but the third was on his way back to Ireland, in west Iceland. Of course these wonder birds are only part of what our friends went to see. In spite of the weather they said it was all a great show: life and colour and sound and excitement. Perhaps more detail on another day. Y