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Geese is the word - but will birds use winter refuge?

Getty Images Three black bellied Brent Geese stood on grassGetty Images
The geese have migrated to the Southsea from Siberia

Birds which migrate to the UK coast every October have been offered a special refuge site, but will they use it?

The Brent Geese are annual visitors to Southsea, choosing to spend the winter months in the area.

Portsmouth City Council has created a safe and undisturbed habitat on Southsea Common for the visitors to use while sea defence works take place.

In previous years the geese spurned the site in favour of a nearby pitch-and-putt golf course and the local Portsmouth Cricket Club - but what about this year?

The council has installed decoys and devices which give off goose calls to entice the birds away from the construction site and to the designated area.

The new refuge space, which is marked out using metal fencing, will be regularly monitored throughout the overwintering season, the local authority said.

Southsea Coastal Scheme A computer generated image of the completed coastal defence scheme with the promenade and the war memorial visibleSouthsea Coastal Scheme
The entire £180m scheme is due for completion in early 2029

A spokesperson from Portsmouth City Council said: "This temporary enclosure is essential to provide a safe and undisturbed habitat for these migratory birds while works on the seafront are being carried out.

"Protecting the Brent Geese during their stay is a vital environmental requirement, ensuring their wellbeing while we improve the coastline."

The geese have migrated to the coastal city from Siberia and will spend their time there between October to March.

Construction of the £180m Southsea Coastal Scheme is ongoing to improve the areas sea defences and to protect thousands of homes and hundreds of businesses from the risk of flooding.

The work is expected to be completed in 2029.

Brent Geese

  • There are two types of brent geese - dark bellied and pale bellied.
  • Dark-bellied geese breed in northern Russia and head to southern and eastern England for winter.
  • Pale-bellied brent geese breed mostly in Canada and Greenland and spend the winter mostly in Ireland.
  • Brent geese arrive in the UK in October and depart in March.
  • The geese eat vegetation, especially eel-grass.

Source: RSPB

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