The Saltfleet Black Brant and some accompanying Dark-bellied Brents

On November 18th 2025 Chris Atkin found a Black Brant at Saltfleet – this is a standard end of autumn filler when we run out of hope on the nana front. I actually still remember finding Lincolnshire’s first Black Brant at Howden’s Pullover on January 21st 1982 and doing the Report article where it was in esteemed company with the Lincs rare write ups including Broad-billed and Sharp-tailed Sandpipers, Parrot Crossbills, Turkestan Shrike and a certain American Redstart (a year to remember). But back to 2025 and I guess no-one looked very hard for the Black Brant as it was not reported again until Owen Beaumont found it on the New Inn fields on the 11th. It seemed like a decent spot to get a good look and maybe some images so with sun forecast for 13th I ventured down the coast and was soon looking at the flock of Dark-bellied Brents. It took several scans of the flock before I eventually picked up the Black Brant which was usually at the back of the flock and proved very easy to loose.

When out on its own the Black Brant was not difficult to locate - note the underside of caravans forming a nice backdrop

Mixed in with the Dark-=bellied Brents the flank patch was sometimes a give away

The neck collar on this bird was not strikingly different to its DBB friends and the bird appeared on the small side so is possibly a female?

Light makes a huge difference to perception of blacks and greys but the brown tinge to the neck and belly are clear here - three juvenile DBB here weer clearly one of the few families in a poor breeding season

Nice view of the underwing and solid belly colour - it was often aggressive to DBB nearby and likewise was occasionally attcked by them a sign of speciation!!

At times blatantly obvious but it could easily disappear in the flock particularly when feeding with its head down

In shade the upperparts looked jet black and the contrast with the flanks enhanced

A brown tinge to the upperparts is visible in good light

here it is a bit further back but clearly looks slightly smaller than the adjacent DBBs - the collar was complete at the front but not striking in depth

The brown tinge to the upperparts and underparts is again clear here in sunlight

in the same light conditions the upperparts of the DBBrents are strikingly pale grey compared to the Black Brant but compare the neck collar to the adjacent DBB

A closer view of the neck collar which almost joined at the back

For anyone looking for this bird and needless to say there was no-one there on Saturday, this is Lincolnshire, its easy to find near the traffic cone under the caravan

Also managed to see Owen’s colour ringed bird - thanks for the info that shows it is Lime A / Dark Green 4 a returning bird seen on the same field 22/11/23 and Elm House Farm 04/02/24. Ringed 04/03/23 Ameland, Netherlands. Regular resightings from Ameland March to May 2023 and in March to April 2024. No other sightings this year

A few of the Dark-bellied Brent Goose flock

Two juveniles one more advanced than the other

The flock commutes between the field and the foreshore where they are much harder to see in the longer saltmarsh vegetation

Good light in December is a rare commodity

A Curlew in the creek - a long 7 mile walk failed to locate any lingering Asian passerines but always worth checking

a wintering Black-faced Bunting is sure to be unearthed somewhere

or a Pine Bunting but the Saltfleet flock only held Reed and Yellow buntings

male Stonechat was standard

and one that escaped the Donna fencing

with an 800mm lens you don’t have to be close