Six geese hit on road in Bishop Burton and taken from scene

THEY are a big draw in one of the East Riding's most picturesque villages.

So residents in Bishop Burton were shocked when six geese were run down on the main road next to the pond.

The birds – thought to be Greylag geese – appeared to have been hit by a vehicle.

Farmer Sue Ellerington, who keeps ducks and chickens, was called to the scene of the crash.

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She said: "They rang me from the pub and they said there had been some geese killed.

"But by the time we got there, someone had put them in the back of a car and taken them."

Witnesses to the crash say six birds were hit by a car coming into the village from the direction of Beverley at about 6pm on Tuesday.

The road there sweeps downhill around a bend as it approaches the pond.

The geese are often sit in the middle of the carriageway.

Mrs Ellerington said: "When we arrived, there were just feathers in the road.

"Di from the pub said she wasn't sure if the geese had been killed.

"They would have been adult birds. Whether they were taken to a vet or somewhere else, I don't know."

Drivers heading through Bishop Burton and the nearby village of Walkington are used to having to avoid ducks and geese in the road.

Birds tend to move between the ponds and swans that bred signets at Bishop Burton last year now appear to have moved to Walkington.

The Greylags had only recently arrived at Bishop Burton.

They are likely to be full-time residents in the UK, rather than migratory.

The breed was re-established by releasing birds in suitable areas. The resulting flocks are often mixed with Canada geese and found around gravel pits, lakes and reservoirs all year round in Britain. They tend to be semi-tame.

Wild Greylags, unlike their tamer cousins, are found mostly north of the Solway or on RSPB nature reserves. They habitually spend winter in the UK but head north to the arctic in summer.

East Yorkshire villages are rightly proud of their ponds and wildlife and fight to preserve them.

Last year, villagers at Brantingham near Brough were upset that a lack of water in their pond had led to ducks leaving.

The spring ducklings had either died or flown to new watering holes.

Determined to get their ducks back this year, Brantingham Parish Council successfully applied for £16,500 of landfill tax through Waste Recycling Environmental so it could plug leaks in the pond. The village qualifies because it is six miles from a registered landfill site at Winterton, across the Humber in Lincolnshire.

Just as regulars at the Altisadora pub in Bishop Burton enjoy seeing the wildfowl, Tom Woodhead, manager at The Triton Inn in Brantingham was right behind efforts to keep ducks at Brantingham.

He said: "The pond is really important. We're on the Wolds Way and the pond is one of the main focal points."

An RSPB spokesman said: "If people see an injured bird, the first thing they should do is ring the RSPCA."