Our friends the Canadian geese are back
In Ireland we have a number of goose species, barnacle from the cliffs of north-east Greenland, white-fronted geese in north-west Greenland and Canadian Brent Geese. Dublin Bay has always been an important site for Brent Geese in Ireland. There are an increasing number of inland terrestrial feeding sites, and North Dublin is home to over 4,000 Brent during the mid-winter.
While the Greenland white-fronts head to remote bogs on their way to the Wexford Slobs, and barnacles like coastal fields and grassy islands of Co Mayo and Co Sligo. While studying in Sligo one of my lecturers had a huge interest in the barnacle geese, which meant we could do really interesting projects on their feeding habits on local farmland.
The Brent geese spread out to bays and estuaries around most of Ireland. It is an incredible sight in Dublin Bay when we see the v-shape in the sky as the Canadian visitors arrive in their huge numbers. Winter is much brighter when they are around.