A CELEBRATION of a local legend takes place this Saturday.

Essex Wildlife Trust is staging Brent Goose Day with events to mark the presence of a quarter of the world’s population of the dark-bellied brent geese spending winter here in Essex.

Some 30,000 birds can be found along our estuaries and reserves, including Hamford Water, and Wrabness on the Stour.

Bird fans are being urged to see them before they fly back to their Arctic breeding grounds in March/April for the summer and want sightings of them to be shared on social media this weekend.

Trust biodiversity officer Keiren Alexander said: “Essex is one of the most important places in the world for dark-bellied brent geese, with around 30,000 birds at home in our estuaries every winter.

“The geese are spectacular to see and hear close up, so we hope as many people get to enjoy then on Saturday. They really are a species for Essex to be proud of.”

The brent goose relies on a few sites globally, making it a conservation concern, with an estimated population of arout 120,000 globally. Some 60,000 winter in East Anglia and the South East, 30,000 of which come to Essex.

Dark-bellied brents undertake one of the most remarkable migration journeys in the natural world. Each spring the entire population flies back to Siberia’s Tamyr Peninsular – a journey of 2,500 miles For more details, visit essexwt.org.uk/brent-goose-day.