The number of wintering wild geese in the Tuzly Estuaries National Nature Park in Odesa region has increased.
This was announced on his Facebook page by Ivan Rusev, head of the national park's research department.
According to him, usually a small number of geese that come to us from the tundra spend the winter in the Tuzly Estuaries. Among them, there are several dozen Red-fronted Geese.
“They mostly stay overnight in the area of the Alibey, Khadzhider, Solonyi, Dzhantshei, and Malyi Sasyk estuaries,” the ecologist says.
But in recent days, park workers have discovered and counted several tens of thousands more white-fronted geese that spend the night in various estuaries and feed on rapeseed and winter crops during the day.
According to Rusev, there are now almost 40 thousand birds in total, including several thousand red-fronted geese. The ecologist says that geese are very sensitive to various noises, especially gunshots during hunting. Therefore, if shahids or other UAVs fly over, including UAVs of the Armed Forces to monitor the coast, these birds react very sensitively and change their locations for a certain period of time.
The scientist assumes that large flocks of geese have now arrived here in addition during the winter from the occupied territories of Kherson region and Crimea, where they historically winter in large numbers. Hunting in those areas is not restricted as it is in Ukraine, so the birds are looking for safer wintering places, he explains.
As Ecopolitic reported, in mid-December, the state of water in the Black Sea and adjacent Tuzliv estuaries is gradually improving.
