The Arrival of Migrating Geese

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 I was out in the garden yesterday when I  heard the unmistakeable sound of pink footed geese overhead. This is the time of year when these geese that breed mostly in Iceland start to make their way South to avoid the rigours of an Arctic winter. This is a quick shot with my phone but you can discern the characteristic V formation that they adopt apparently to save energy.


Pink foots seem to favour the Ribble Estuary , Morecambe Bay and the Solway in winter and use the mudflats and the pastureland round about to feed on. A couple of years ago I went to Martin Mere Reserve near the Ribble at dawn and watched thousands of pink foot take to the air (noisily!). I am showing a clip of this below.

Different geese have slightly different habitat requirements and so to find Barnacle Geese I go to the Solway  at  Caerlaverock but to find Greylag Geese I would travel to the East Coast to the RSPB Saltholme Reserve.
I find it reminds me of the international nature of wildlife to have birds that are arriving from the Arctic sharing the skies briefly with birds that are about to depart for South Africa. A reminder if one was needed that wildlife conservation has to be an international effort. There is no point in us conserving wildlife here if they are not being looked after at another part of their journeys around the World.

Diary
Overcast today. Good sightings of buzzards. Too lazy to set camera traps last night!


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