A project which will track geese which travel to Essex’s estuaries for the first time in 40 years has begun on the Dengie.

More than 30,000 Dark-bellied Brent Geese travel thousands of miles from eastern Siberia to Essex every winter.

Due to the birds relying on so few wintering grounds they have been given amber status in the Birds of Conservation Concern.

The Essex Wildlife Trust teamed up with the Southern Colour Ringing Group to successfully ring 18 Brent Geese at Blue House Farm nature reserve at North Fambridge.

By fitting colour-coded rings, as well as a unique-numbered metal ring, birds can be identified in the field and information and statistics discovered about the species.

No Brent Geese have been ringed in Essex for 40 years and since 2010 only 43 birds have been ringed across the country.

Projects in the 1970s and 1990s helped to track 1,700 birds.

Expert canon netters, a harmless method to capture birds, and ringers from the group worked with the trust over several attempts to catch birds, succeeding early this year.

The 18 birds were ringed, weighed and measured, then safely returned to the wild.

The whole process was done under strict licence from British Trust for Ornithology and with consent from Natural England.

Harry Smith, Essex Wildlife Trust’s warden at Blue House Farm, said: “This is just the start of a long-term project between Essex Wildlife Trust and the Southern Colour Ringing Group.

“We hope we are laying the foundations for a legacy of information and data that will be really valuable to the conservation of this famous Essex species.

“Brents are long-lived, so we may see ringed birds for several years to come. With colour-coded rings, anyone with binoculars or a telescope can join in the project.”

The geese will be in Essex for a few more weeks before they will leave to begin their long migration to breed in the Arctic.

The trust has thanked Rayleigh-based birdwatcher, David Low, whose knowledge helped them to track the birds.

Anyone who sees a Brent Goose with a colour ring, please send details including ring-code, date and location to Paul Roper, email: ntgg_sightings@hotmail.co.uk.