Skein Birding and Beyond.......: Brents. So they are.

About Graham Clarkson

Born & brought up in Marshside, I started birding there in the mid 1970s & made my first birding trip to Martin Mere in 1977. I've lived, worked & birdied in Abu Dhabi, Northern Ireland & Gloucestershire & I've spent time working in Kazakhstan & Madagascar. I enjoy birding my various West Lancashire patches, making frequent birding visits throughout the north-west of England and North Wales. I stray elsewhere in the UK & enjoy birding abroad from time to time. I'm particularly interested in wildfowl (especially pink-footed geese) with an interest in waders & raptors, bird counts & surveys & conservation. I'm trying to get the hang of photography & digiscoping - I'll get there eventually.

My degree from Edge Hill University is in conservation biology. I've guided on numerous birding days out & trips & guided birding holidays to Lesvos, Andalucia, Extremedura, Majorca, Camargue, Hungary, Finland & Florida. I enjoy showing people birds & habitats & helping them learn more about birds & enjoy birding. I'm currently involved with the Birdwatching and Beyond course at Edge Hill and a brand new venture; Skein Birding.

As well as birding I'm interested in captive breeding & reintroduction projects & zoos, how they're managed & how they contribute to conservation. I'm a proud Lancastrian & love the Lancashire countryside & landscapes. I'm an Evertonian & also keep up with what's happening at Southport, PNE & Bristol Rovers. Gardening, dogs (I have a Labrador & a Tibetan Terrier) and keeping chickens (especially Marsh Daisys & Scots Dumpy Bantams). Ruth & I have two marvellous boys who both love nature too. I hope you find the blog and subjects covered interesting; please feel free to leave a comment.

Sunday, 30 September 2012

Brents. So they are.

I was working over in County Down at Castle Espie on Friday. I've made a few work trips there over during the past couple of years. It's always a joy to visit and it bring backs memories of 1991, the year I spent working there.

Although on Friday my primary reason for visiting wasn't related to counting geese, reserve manager Kerry politely insited I help him with the International Light-bellied Brent Goose census, and how could I refuse my hosts invitation? Kerry coordinates the goose counting on Strangford Lough and counts sectors roughly west of Newtonards along the west coast of the lough down to Mahee island.We counted c.8000 in Kerry's sector, the final count for the lough was 22926 (down on recent counts, some have moved south already). Productivity has apparently been very low this year, I looked closely at a sample of 980 birds and could only find 10 juveniles. Amazing to think that these wonderful little geese migrate to Ireland via Greenland and Iceland (and beyond; some winter on Hilbre Island, Angelsey and in Brittany) and breed in the Canadian high arctic. The wonders of migration.....

We started the count at 8.30 and had finished by 10.45, the rest of the day was spent in the confines of an office, so it was nice to get an early goose fix. Other birds seen on and around the lough included 260 Eiders, Red-breasted Merganser, Little Egret, Greenshank, c.10 Great Crested Grebes, Twite, Chiffchaff and big flocks of waders that contained Dunlin, Knot and Bar-tailed Godwits.