Brent are Back

The Reserve is home to 50% of the worlds population .

The Light-Bellied Brent Geese (LBB) that  Lindisfarne NNR is home to from September – March breed in the High Arctic, primarily Svalbard, east Greenland and Franz Josef Land.  The Reserve is home to approx. 50% of the world population with Denmark accommodating the remaining birds.

Light-bellied brent geese are landing back on the Reserve.

During the early 20^th century the population numbered around 50,000 birds until a massive loss of the key Zostera beds on the continent and/or human over-exploitation resulted in a massive collapse of the population to 1500-2000 birds in the early 1970s.  The population has slowly grown to approx. 8700 (2015 spring staging census) .

The draw for the LBB is the extensive Zostera (eel grass) beds that the Reserve provides.

Zostera - the big draw for Light-Bellied Brent

We've been seeing groups of Light Bellied Brent Geese returning to the Reserve over the past couple of days and our  Fenham-le-Moor hide is a great place to observe one of our rarest geese.

(All pictures (c) JJD)