Today we have more birds that I don’t get to see very often in my part of south Wales. These are Brent geese (Branta bernicla), Britain’s smallest goose, their bodies not much bigger than a Mallard duck. They come in two colour variations: though they all have black heads, necks and beaks, with grey-brown backs, some are pale-bellied (subspecies Branta bernicla hrota), whereas others, like the ones shown here, are dark-bellied (Branta bernicla bernicla).

According to Fauna Britannica, ‘the name “brent” comes via “brant” from the Old Norse brandgads, meaning “burned [or black] goose”. The Wildlife Trusts website notes:

Birds that nest in northern Russia and Siberia have darker bellies, and spend the winter around the coasts of East Anglia and southern England. Birds that nest in Svalbard and Greenland have paler bellies and mostly spend the winter around North East England and Ireland.

These particular Dark-bellied Brent geese were near Wild Chesil Centre, at Ferrybridge, on the road from Weymouth to the Isle of Portland. I’m told a good number of them over-winter in this area. The geese in the short video I took were feeding on the edge of the pools adjacent to the Centre car park and, fortunately, there was a single car parked in that area that I was able to use to approach the birds without being seen. Standing behind the car, I took a few photos and, then, very very slowly I moved closer and sat on a huge boulder at the edge of the car park to watch and video and watch some more. They were a delight!