(coming soon)
Lower Rhine
Anser albifrons
Blaess’
or ‘Bläß,’ rhymes with
‘place’ and is identical to our word,
‘blaze,’ when used in reference to the white patch
on a horse’s forehead.
Instead of being called the “blaze goose,” however,
we call Bläßgans the “white-fronted
goose,” a direct translation of its Latin name, Anser
albifrons. The Dutch name is Kolgans. Their summer breeding grounds are
said to extend from Sweden all the way across the northern rim of
Eurasia to Siberia.
In a good winter, 160,000 of them can show up in the wetlands along the Lower Rhine. Protected in Germany, they are legally hunted in The Netherlands. Disputes along the border over the issue of hunting are said to have occured (although I’ve not witnessed any, nor very much goose hunting in Holland by my northern California standards).
