Country diary: Postcard from a pier, where brent geese are the main attraction | Lev Parikian

Ryde, Isle of Wight: Lots of commotion here among the hovercraft and herring gulls, but it's the wonderful, tubby geese that make my winterThere's a hovercraft on the sand, skirts deflated, dumped like a beached whale. Behind it, the pier stretches into the Solent. The air has the dull taste of off-season resort, with background notes of seaweed and vinegar. Welcome to Ryde.We eat fish and chips, fending off the attention of a hungry herring gull. The clicks and whistles of 20 starlings float towards our ears from over the road. A pied wagtail, manic wind-up toy, scurries beside us. Stop, start, whirr. Continue reading...