The goose catcher Harry van Kessel coordinated the capture and collaring of 21 Greater White-fronted Geese last week. These included 15 adults and six juveniles. Fred Cottaar and Jan Vegelin took on the measuring and ringing. Harry is celebrating the 100th anniversary of goose catching by him and his family. The Greater White-fronted Geese caught last Friday (18-12-2015) were fitted with collars in the series PR .., PS.., PT ...

Below some photos of the day.

For more photos, movies and information see the website of the Dutch Association of Geese Catchers. The association was founded on November 1, 1982 with the aim to preserve the knowledge of the "old style" goose catching with hand tame geese and canon-netting. This knowledge was only present with some older goose catchers and threatened to be lost due to new regulations. The capture technique has proved to be indispensable for scientific research on wintering geese in Western Europe. The capture technique is nowadays deployed solely for that purpose.

Ralph Buij, 21-12-2015