Skipping the Baltic: the emergence of a dichotomy of alternative spring migration strategies in Russian barnacle geese
Since the early 1990s, an increasing proportion of barnacle geese, Branta leucopsis, bound for breeding sites in the Russian Arctic delay their departure from the wintering quarters in the Wadden Sea by 4 weeks. These late-migrating geese skip spring stopover sites in the Baltic traditionally used by the entire population. Individual geese from an arctic colony tracked by satellite or light-level