The following sightings were taken from the reserve at Castle Espie during a receding tide. The bird of the week this week is the Brent Goose. There are three subspecies of this small goose found in the UK; the commonest are the dark bellied (from Russia), then there are two light Bellied populations (one from Canada and one from Svalbard), and some black Brent (from North America. The geese seen on Strangford Lough breed in Canada, migrating through Greenland and western Iceland before overwintering in globally significant numbers here. Brent geese have small beaks and the shortest tail of any goose, they have a distinctive white patch on either side of their dark neck. Juvenile geese have a smaller or lack the white wing patch, and have white bars on their wings. Brent geese are the most coastal species of goose in the UK and they feed primarily on eel grass. Unlike other geese, they don’t fly in a V formation, instead in lines or groups. Juvenile Brent geese will stay with their parents for their first autumn and winter and are seen in these family groups within flocks of up to several hundred geese.
Estuary - visible from the Brent Hide and the Limekiln Observatory
Brent Goose c.700, Black-headed Gull 1, Mute Swan 2, Great Black-backed Gull 1, Common Gull 1, Eider Duck 35, Oystercatcher c.150, Cormorant 10, Turnstone 2
Main lake - visible from Sensory Garden and Visitor Centre
Kingfisher 1, Teal 15, Gadwall 5, Shoveler 2, Little Grebe 1, Mallard 183, Moorhen 3, Blackbird, House Martin, Swallow, Woodpigeon, Raven, Robin
Shingle Bank - visible from Sensory Garden and Visitor Centre
Mallard 60, Moorhen 2, Little Egret 9, Jackdaw 6, Lesser Black-backed Gull 1, Common Gull 26, Black-headed Gull 48, Grey Heron 1, Teal 8, Oystercatcher 2
Wadermarsh - visible from Wadermarsh lookout and Brent Hide
Little Egret 1, Black-headed Gull 3, Teal 38, Redshank 1, Moorhen 2, Oystercatcher 22, Black-tailed Godwit 31
Freshwater Lagoon - visible from Brent Hide and Crannóg
Mallard 8, Gadwall 2, Goldfinch, Bullfinch, Woodpigeon
Saline Lagoon - visible from Limekiln observatory
Little Grebe 4, Mallard 1
Brickworks
Jackdaw 2, Goldfinch 30
Limestone Lake
Little Grebe, Woodpigeon
Peninsula Saltmarsh
Little Egret 1
Peninsula Field
No birds seen
Woodland
Robin, Blackbird, Woodpigeon, Hooded Crow
Sensory Garden
Robin, Woodpigeon, Magpie, Swallow, Jackdaw
