Photo of the Day - the Brent Geese

Brent goose is a relatively shy and not very common goose species on Svalbard. In addition to king eiders, also the brent geese are less regularly seen around Longyearbyen later in the season. On typical years there has been some brent goose observations in Adventvalley, but for nesting they seem to disappear into the numerous remote valleys and islands around the archipelago. This year we spotted a record breaking flock (at least for me) in the valley. 80 individuals were grazing on the first green plants and getting fit for the long and exhausiting nesting period. A day later they all were gone and probably won't come back until the next spring. Snow is melting rapidly. The nesting has begun!