The world population of Greenland White-fronted Geese in spring 2024 comprised 14,997 individuals, the lowest since coordinated counts began in 1982, down by an alarming 16.8% compared to 18,027 counted spring 2023, a reduction of 30.1% compared to spring 2019 and down 57.8% from the peak population count in spring 1999. Spring 2024 numbers comprised 5,577 counted in Ireland, 4,283 at Wexford (down on 5,531 the previous spring). Counts elsewhere in Ireland fell by a staggering 44.1% from 2,261 to 1,294 in 2024.
Among wintering geese in Ireland, the percentage young among aged flocks after the 2023 breeding season was again extraordinarily low at 2.9% (based on 3,418 aged individuals) compared to 2.4% last season. Mean brood size among the Irish flocks was low (2.0, n = 23), down on 2.6 last season. There were 2.4% young among 3,327 aged at Wexford (substantially the same as last season’s catastrophically low 2.1%). Mean brood size at Wexford was 1.7, based on 17 broods (compared to 2.7 last season). Elsewhere in Ireland, reproductive success was 19.8% based on a sample of 91 from just two sites – probably an artefact of small samples from few sites), with mean brood size 2.6 (n = 7, compared to 2.7 last season).
