The Irish Brent Goose Research Group

PHOTO GALLERY

A remarkable team of folk are involved in this project and we have made a great many friends whilst conducting our work. This page gives some sense of the 'characters' involved in this great project. After the random pictures we have the sections broken down by Event.

Gerry standing outside his Reykjavik store,
May 2006; Photo: Alyn Walsh

Gudmundur, Finnur the goose and Finnur the dog - reunited, Iceland May 2006; Photo: Alyn Walsh

Breaking sweat - The strains of cannon-netting - John, James and Gerry look on at the workers, Blennerville, Kerry, April 2006; Photo:

Brent making a feeble attempt to hide from the camera but Gudmundur is much too good, Alex Heiberg, Canada, July 2007; Photo: Kendrew Colhoun

Jon Gunnar Johannsson in an embrace with 'Howard' the satellite-tagged goose, having recaptured him to remove his PTT. Jon's input to the project is huge. He is also Managing Director of the 'trap factory'; Photo: Gudmundur Gudmundsson

Gudmundur "Mummi' Gudmundsson - a key member of the international research programme team - on 'holidays' in the arctic (left) and doing his impersonation of Telly Savalas (Kojak; right); Photos: Kendrew Colhoun
Gudmundur's dog Dr. Finnur in Icelandic champion Brent Goose but wouldn't touch a Brent Goose; Photo: Kendrew Colhoun

Against better advise Stuart tried the turn the car at the end of the lane at Tank, Strangford only to get stuck. He single-handedly pulled the car out of the mud without causing his back any harm....not; Photo: Kendrew Colhoun

Dr WS (Sean) Boyd and Garry Grigg, CWS Delta, British Columbia. These guys are goose biologists with the Canadian Wildlife Service whose research includes seaducks and Grey-bellied Brent. They led the 2005 Melville/Bathurst Arctic expedition. Though looking way too young for retirement, Garry (the grey-haired one on the right) has put his feet up, with his record for the funniest joke at high altitude ever safely in the bag - it was at my expense; Photo: Kendrew Colhoun
(Left) BBC crew (Hatish, Simon et al.) in search for a Supergoose

(Right) Stuart making an important call to the producers of BBC Autumnwatch; Photo: Kendrew Colhoun

Stuart Bearhop proudly holding a telemtred goose, Iceland, May 2006; Photo: Kendrew Colhoun

Long-tailed Skua standing on top of various people (L to R) - Gudmundur, Louis and Alyn

Kendrew experiences his closest ever encounter with a brooding Brent Goose, Axel Heiberg, Canada June 2007; Photo: Gudmundur Gudmundsson

(Right) Josee Lefebvre talking some time out after eating two lunchs of peanut butter sandwiches. It saves lives you know. Blactop Creek, Fossheim Peninsula, Ellesmere Island, Canada, July 2007; Photo: Louis Lesage

Hallgrimur Gunnarson, Jon Gunnar Johannsson and Olafur Torfason and goose 'Howard' with a great big smile on their faces. These guys and the photographer make up the Icelandic 'A' Team; Photo: Gudmundur Gudmundsson

(Left to Right) Louis 'Big Time' Lesage and Josee 'fax' Lefebvre at home in the Arctic desert of Axel Heiberg; Photo: Kendrew Colhoun
Francis 'Terminator' St Pierre on a Quad bike with Josee in the slipstream, Fossheim Peninsula, July 2007; Photo: Louis Lesage

Gerry 'the Governor' Murphy, Director of Operations Southern Command - a true gentleman and our 'main man' in the south-west and during Icelandic expeditions. Tends not to get involved in anything too strenuous but more than makes up for it in other respects, most notably directing on precise net positioning; Photo: Kendrew Colhoun

Oli Torfason Gannet-wrestling in the Vestmann Islands. The poor thing only spilled his pint of Viking and was duly throttled; Photo: Oli Torfason

Austin Reed, Francis St Pierre, Josee Lefebvre, Louis Lesage, Kendrew Colhoun and Gudmundur Gudmundsson, Resolute Bay, Nunavut, Canada, June 2007

Austin paying homage to a Brent Goose nest at Blacktop Creek, Fossheim Peninsula, Ellesmere Island, Canada, July 2007. This was the only mainland-nesting Brent we found and it took some searching! Photo: Kendrew Colhoun

Alyn Walsh processing Brent in Canada, August 2007. Alyn catches many of the Brent in the Republic of Ireland and has also been involved in work in Iceland. Happiest with a bird in his hand or on the back of a bike! Photo: Stuart Bearhop

(Left) Josee taking some measurements of Brant nests, Brant Island, Axel Heiberg, June 2007; Photo: Kendrew Colhoun

(Right) Part of Team Eureka 2007 (Kendrew and Gudmundur were there for the first phase of the expedition), August 2007, Eureka, Ellesmere Island, Canada: left to right - Lauren, Josee, Stuart, Francis, Austin, Alyn and Louis; Photo: Alyn Walsh

Stuart Bearhop and Francis St Pierre doing some Brent banding on Axel Heiberg, August 2007; Photo: Alyn Walsh

Louis 'Absolutely' Lesage a hard working and fun Canadian scientist we had the pleasure of working with in summer 2007. Amongst his many talents are moose-hunting, cooking, chalking a cue with his leg and doing a Norn Iron accent. You better believe it big man. Big Time; Photo: Alyn Walsh

Brent Goose festival at Alftanes. This is an annual event at which school children and their teachers from the area join with local scientists (Iceland and Ireland) and educational staff from WWT to learn more about Brent Geese; Photo: Daniel Bergmann

(Left to Right): Robin Ward with goose on knee; Kerry Mackie with Goose on knee; Richard 'two goose' Inger; Freydis and Ruth; Gerry breaking into a sweat; Hugh Boyd - all images Iceland May 2005; Photos: Kendrew Colhoun

(Left to Right): Gudmundur Gudmundsson proudly holding a telemetred goose; Alyn 'snapper' Walsh; Richard 'lucky shirt' Inger; Susie 'I'm not impressed' Brown; Stuart and Richard "who's a pretty boy then?"; Hugh Thurgate and Goose; Kendrew with goose - Images Iceland May 2006 and Strangford, January 2006; Photos: (mostly) Kendrew Colhoun

(Left to Right): Stuart and Richard showing off their lucky Brent-catching tops - for Stuart its a Harnarfjordur top, for Richard its a short from the NAAG at Reno, Nevada; Stuart takes a run up the golf course at Seltjarnarness where we were catching Brent; Richard in a more 'orange' moment; James Orr being mauled by a Brent; A Brent being mauled by John McCullough. Images Iceland May 2005 and Strangford January 2006; Photos: Kendrew Colhoun