Safety vow after geese deaths

CALLS have been made to step up safety measures at Scarborough’s Sands apartment block after three more Canada geese flew into the side of the building.


The geese died after hitting the large, cream-coloured end wall at the end of Kepwick House, one of the two blocks of apartments.

The company which manages the Sands apartments has installed new, bright LED lighting to try to tackle the problem. But the geese are still flying at full speed into the wall as they head out over the sea.

Wildlife experts and members of the public are calling for more action to be taken to prevent more deaths.

Steve Race, community education and outreach officer at RSPB Bempton Cliffs, said that for anyone to have to witness an incident like this would be “horrific”.

Mr Race, who lives in Scarborough, said: “It’s more common to hear of birds flying into windows due to the reflection, but for large geese to fly into a wall like this is very unusual.

“I went to have a look myself and could see the imprints on the side of the building. What’s happened is terrible and if it’s recurring something really needs to be done. It’s very upsetting.”

It is believed the geese are struggling to differentiate between the sky and the building’s pale facade.

The birds died instantly after striking the building as they made their way out to sea, and their deaths follow that of another goose which was killed last month in the same way. There have also been previous incidents.

David Hooper, who runs the neighbouring Military Adventure Park in the former Atlantis site, made the latest grim discovery and said it was a distressing sight. He said: “It was quite upsetting to see the geese in that state.

“I believe the geese in Peasholm Park are fine, it is the ones coming from the Open Air Theatre that are having the problem.

“It looks like their direct route takes them straight into the building, it is such a shame to see them in that way.”

Linda Stather, of Scalby Road, contacted the Evening News after she saw a goose collide with the wall.

She said: “I would have thought that after all the killings of geese and swans last year that when this wall was repaired and painted, more thought would have been given to try to stop it.”

But Rachel Dean, director of Escape 2 The Sands, which manages the apartments, said the company was investigating a number of possible solutions to eliminate future incidents.

She added: “Over the last 18 months a number of geese have flown into the side of the apartments on their flight path from Peasholm Park to the North Sea.

“This first occurred at night so to solve this we have fitted LED lights to illuminate up the side of the building to act as a warning to the geese.

“However, the recent inclement weather has resulted in poor visibility for the geese so we are currently exploring all avenues with the RSPB to find a solution to this issue.”