Brent Geese are back in the Lough

Over the last week or so we have started to see the Brent Geese Branta bernicla hrota arriving on our shores.
Strangford Lough is world famous as the main arrival site for most of the Canadian population (up to 80%) of pale-bellied Brent goose. These geese travel to this area, in early autumn, in their tens of thousands from Arctic Canada to over-winter in our warmer climate.
The geese primarily feed on eel grass (Zostera) which grows in the inter-tidal sand and mudflats although they will graze in the fields neighbouring the shore.