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Barnacle Geese

Barnacle geese spend summer nesting in the Arctic Circle - in Svalbard, Greenland and Russia.  In the winter when it’s too cold in the Arctic they fly south for food and warmth. The Barnacle geese that nest in Svalbard (Svalbard barnacle geese) all fly south to the Solway Firth, on the south coast of Scotland.  The Barnacle geese that nest in Greenland fly south to the Isle of Islay and western Ireland and the Russian birds fly to the Netherlands.  

In the 1940's there were only around 300 Svalbard barnacle geese, now there are over 30,000.  All these geese spend the winter on the Solway Firth.  The journey between Svalbard and the Solway Firth is about 2,000 miles (3,200km), and the geese make this journey every year.  On the way they have to cope with extreme weather, avoid hunters and find food.  

WWT Caerlaverock is where thousands of Svalbard barnacle geese rest and feed after their long journey, here the geese are safe.  This is one of the main reasons why there are now 30,000 Svalbard barnacle geese - WWT Caerlaverock is a safe home for them during the winter.

WWT is also helping to look after the geese by fitting them with satellite trackers so we can see where they fly and plot this on a map.  This helps to show the challenges the geese face on their long journey and what we can do to help.

Where to see Svalbard barnacle geese and find out more

You can see Svalbard barnacle geese at WWT Caerlaverock from October to May and all year round at WWT Martin Mere, Washington, London, Llanelli and Slimbridge.

To see where some of our satellite tracked birds fly, visit our tracking map at tracking.wwt.org.uk.