Wild Svalbard Barnacle Geese migrate 3000km from Svalbard Island
in the High Arctic to winter on Scotland’s Solway Firth, with
thousands feeding at WWT’s Caerlaverock Wetland Centre. These
magnificent animals may fly the entire distance in two days. At
Martin Mere a small wintering flock of around 50 – 70 Barnacle
Geese have just arrived. The question is, are these new visitors
even more epic migrators than our Pink-feet and Whoopers who
have flown the 800km from Iceland? No these geese have made
their extraordinary migration all the way from Knowsley in
Liverpool, which is around 20 – 25km from Martin Mere. They are
a feral flock (descended from captive birds) but they seem to
have kept the urge to migrate. If you’re lucky you will see
these feral Barnacle Geese which are just as striking as their
wild cousins, joined by another feral Red-Breasted Goose (sorry
it’s not a wild one). More details of the awesome migration of
the wild Svalbard Barnacle Geese can be found on our website.
The current weather is do