Record breaking 45,800 pink-footed geese arrive at Lancashire reserve

Pink-footed GeeseA record number of 45,800 migratory pink-footed geese has arrived at Lancashire’s WWT Martin Mere Wetland Centre according to counts earlier  today. This beats the previous record number of 36,000 in 2010.

Over the next couple of weeks, numbers will steadily increase as more of these birds make the 500 mile journey from Iceland to spend the start of winter in Lancashire. The geese will ultimately spend the winter in the south after using the North West as a service station to rest and re-fuel for up to three weeks before continuing on their journey.

WWT Martin Mere Reserve Manager, Tom Clare, said: “This has been one of my most memorable moments at Martin Mere – as I looked out this morning, the two marshes were completely covered in geese. I waited to see them take off which is one of the greatest sights in nature. October is one of the best times of the year to visit WWT Martin Mere as it is amazing to see the geese fly in to roost during the afternoon.”

The arrival of the pink footed geese is just one of the incredible journeys that signals the start of migration season. The UK provides the perfect sheltered conditions for birds to find a winter sanctuary, so over the next few months, Wetland Centres like WWT Martin Mere will become ‘avian airports’, welcoming tens of thousands of migratory birds, mainly from The Arctic. At the same time, birds that arrived in spring to raise their young are heading south to overwinter in insect-rich Africa.

Visitors can get close to the action and see some of the birds that have made this incredible journey with a range of encounters, wild bird feeds and walks and talks at WWT Wetland Centres:

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