Greylag Goose

The Egyptian Goose is a pale brown and grey goose with distinctive dark brown eye-patches and contrasting white wing patches in flight.

Egyptian Geese were introduced as an ornamental wildfowl species and have escaped in to the wild. The North Norfolk coast and the Norfolk Broads hold the highest numbers. They now successfully breed in a feral state on lowland lakes and gravel pits with short grass nearby for grazing but can also be seen frequently on ornamental lakes and ponds where they were originally introduced.
The Greylag Goose is the ancestor of most domestic geese but is also the largest and bulkiest of the wild geese native to the UK and Europe.

In many parts of the UK it has been re-established by releasing birds in suitable areas but the resulting flocks found around gravel pits, lakes and reservoirs all year round in southern Britain tend to be semi-tame.

The native birds and wintering flocks found on lochs in northern Scotland and on some Scottish islands retain the special appeal of truly wild geese.

Date: 27/04/06

Location: Flitcham Abbey Farm, Flitcham, Norfolk