PHILIPPONA J (1962) The surroundings of Beetsterzwaag and Gorredijk as a haunt for geese.. LIMOSA 35 (1): 17-28.

Near the small villages of Beetsterzwaag and Gorredijk, in the eastern part of Friesland lies one of the most important wintering places for geese of Western-Europe (see map). The area consists of two large complexes a few kilometres apart. The locality comprises about 4600 acres of grassland, on which the geese are feeding. It forms a very favourable habitat for geese and other wildfowl, for the following reasons: 1. Parts of the grasslands are flooded (in dry winters 50-100 acres, in wet winters much more: 250-2000 acres). The flooded fields provide the geese with ideal roosts. 2. The country is rather thinly populated. Most of the feeding grounds are unhabited. 3. The number of roads is small. Big areas are quite without roads. 4. Shooting is not very intensive. Part of the landscape is just what one expects in a goose-locality: spacious grasslands with few trees and a small number of farm-houses (see photographs 3 and 4). But the eastern part of the locality offers a more remarkable sight. The hayfields of Rome and the Terwispeler Grootschar are bounded by small woods. Some allotments have strips of wood on three sides (see photographs 1 and 2). The Uocality is mainly a haunt for the White-fronted goose. Table 1 shows the numbers in some different years. In most cases the maximum numbers are given. Smaller numbers of Barnacle geese (see table 3) were very common in the last few years. Pink-footed geese are sometimes seen, mostly in small numbers (see table 2). The Grey-lag goose and the Bean goose are rare at present. About 40-50 years ago 1) Het zal na het voorgaande duidelijk zijn, dat men hierbij niet te zuinig mag zijn. Voor de ganzen is 100 ha onder water staand gebied vermoedelijk voldoende. Wil men ook de duizendell eenden en honderden Kleine Zwanen, die hier vaak overwinteren, terwille zijn, dan mag dat oppervlak zelfs zeker 150-200 ha groot zijn. Greylags and Beans probaply were the most common of all the kinds of geese in this locality. Anyhow the numbers of wintering geese in those years were probably smaller than at present. Like other good haunts for waterfowl, the present one is threatened by drainageimprovement. Fortunately it seems possible to retain the flooding of a certain part of the area. ##### Greater White-fronted Goose Anser albifrons Pink-footed Goose Anser brachyrhynchus = Anser fabalis brachyrhynchus Barnacle Goose Branta leucopsis Greylag Goose Anser anser

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