With Christmas fast approaching and today being the shortest day of the year, the Fleet really is in the depths of winter. However, with the recent mild weather we’ve had coupled with the delightfully calm days, it’s hard to believe that January is just around the corner. This time of year can be a struggle for the resident and migrant wildfowl of the reserve, as they need to make sure they keep well fed and in condition for the New Year. The numbers of Dark-bellied Brent Geese are very good this year, with figures going well in to their thousands, and in addition there are a handful of Pale-bellied and Black Brant seen as well. The image below, over looking Butterstreet, shows a few hundred Mute Swans accompanied by over 2000 Brent Geese (the little black dots on the back left of the image) resting on the water and feeding on the eel grass growing on the bed of the lagoon.
Mute Swans and Brent Geese at Butterstreet © Charlie Wheeler