A goose day with the first Barnacle Geese heard in the half light passing over the house whilst I was still in bed!!! Later small groups continued to go north, including Greenland White-fronted Geese too, as a lot of the geese had obviously overshot the island as a consequence of the strong northerly winds. They seem so able to gauge supportive weather conditions, i.e. tailwinds, but,on this occasion,things were a little robust!!!
It's almost an emotional occasion when the geese arrive!! Normally, or eventually like now, they congregate at the top of Loch Gruinart for a period until dispersing over the island. The sight of birds arriving high from the north and wiffling ( that'll not be in the spellchecker!!! ) down to fly just above the surface of the water to the head of the loch is absolutely marvellous. As you might imagine the calling, even cacophony, from the birds both as they arrive , and later, is spellbinding. Relief, celebration, lost youngsters, aggression....it's all in there. An avian soap opera but, above all else , doubtless pronounced joy at actually being back in familiar surroundings after such a long flight originating in Greenland. What the youngsters make of it all would be fascinating to know, not just the long flight but then , for a period , being precipitated amongst what yesterday was probably in excess of 30,000 birds. Just like being taken to your first really big football match as a child!!!
A wonderful spectacle that never wanes in its drama.
No comments:
Post a Comment