Return of an old friend

I went to Langness last week to check on the flock of Light-bellied Brent Geese, following a tip of from Pete Hadfield that one of them had Blue and White colour rings on.

I found the flock by the 'Stinking Dubh', an intertidal pool, and almost straight away I saw 'NPWB', a Brent Goose which Sean had seen last March in the same area.

Light-bellied Brent Goose NPWB - photo by Sean March 2011

Click on the map markers for info or click here to open up the map full screen.

View Brent Goose 'NPWB' in a larger map

It is one of the birds from the Irish Brent Goose Study. They colour ring Light-bellied Brent Geese on their wintering grounds in Ireland and also on migration through Iceland on their way to/from Arctic Canada where they nest.

We have seen several of their colour ringed Light-bellied Brent Geese on the IOM over the last few years.

Another of their colour ringed Brents is 'J4YY' which has been wintering in Derbyhaven/Langness for the passed 5 winters.

This bird is a female and has brought several offspring with her most winters after nesting in Arctic Canada. Click here to see a map of where J4YY was ringed and has been seen other than the IOM.

Thanks to Graham McElwaine for the info on the colour ringed Brent Geese.