Brants
Branta bernicla

f11 @ 1/2500s, ISO:2500, Nikon D3S w 300mm

"Brant," Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The brant goose was strictly coastal bird in winter, rarely leaving tidal estuaries, where it feeds on eelgrass (Zostera marina) and the seaweed, sea lettuce (Ulva). On the east coast of North America, the inclusion of sea lettuce is a recent change to their diet, brought about by a blight on eelgrass in 1931. This resulted in the near-extirpation of the brant. The few that survived changed their diet to include sea lettuce until the eelgrass eventually began to return. Brants have maintained this diet ever since as a survival strategy.

Sandwich, Massachusetts

01/17/2021