Sir, Wild geese are not common visitors to Pembs (the Canada geese which are resident on the Western Cleddau and often seen in other parts of the county, are descendants of park and other collections of wildfowl, i.e. are not true wild geese). It has been interesting then to see real wild geese, i.e. five Brent geese on Tenby South Beach in recent weeks. It is some 20 years since I last saw Brents in Pembrokeshire. These were also on the the South Beach. However, Brents have two sub-species which winter in the UK, dark-bellied and pale-bellied, neither of which winter normally in Pembs or any other part of Wales. The birds at present on the South Beach are pale- breasted Brents. These have two breeding populations, one in north Greenland and Canadian Arctic islands, which usually winters on the Irish coast and a second which breeds in Spitsbergen and Franz Josef Land, and winters on the coast of Northumberland, England. Which of the two populations our five stragglers belong to is anyone's guess, but it would seem more likely that they have strayed over from Ireland. They are best looked for at low water, generally towards the Giltar end of the beach.
Michael Higgins,
Bryn Hafod, Penally.