Question for nature lovers?

Hi Kupari45

I'm no expert but I live quite close to Martin Mere which is where tens of thousands of geese arrive from Iceland and Greenland

They stay here until Spring.

Quite a magnificent sight to witness when they're flying over

They usually fly over Scotland so maybe they decided to take a detour!

Hopefully someone with more knowledge will be able to help

We have experienced the same here in East Yorkshire.
A farmer friend near the coast said he’s never seen so many.
My husband is convinced it means an early onset of a very harsh winter.
He’s checking the log store and the food store!!!
He does have a tendency to be a bit pessimistic though. ?

I've watched them most mornings flying over the Mersey towards Ireland, but they foxed me the other day and flew the other way. A fabulous sight and sound of them all chattering.

Barnacle geese ? They fly in a " V " shape.

We are in north Lancashire and thousands of Hooper swans have been flying over, maybe on the way to Martin Mere, Oopsminty. I hope it’s not a sign of a bad winter, not on top of everything else!

Are you sure that they are geese? They could be cranes which are flying south for the winter. Large groups have flown over us today (in the Dordogne). The cranes fly in a "V" shape and they are fascinating to watch because they change position. They fly very high - sometimes above the clouds if those are low. Sometimes we hear them but can't see them.

Sadly it's a sign that winter's on its way and so we wait for them to fly north again in the spring.

Brent geese from Canada arrive in N Ireland about now. Perhaps they have travelled on to you.

It's an annual event when some waterfowl migrate to the UK for the winter. I live in urban Yorkshire and get such a thrill when the local Canada geese on our reservoir take a daily flight over the houses and back. and I'd love to be near the coast to see the migrations.

I'll never forget seeing (and hearing) an enormous flock of geese fly in over the East coast if Scotland in October one year. Something I'll never forget.

We see large skeins of geese at this time of year too. They come down from colder northern climes to overwinter here, as do fieldfares, which come down in large numbers from Scandinavia. They should be with us soon. I love to see geese flying in formation. I was told by a naturalist that they change places within the formation so that each one gets to ‘rest’ by flying in the slipstream of the others. I think that’s how it works anyway. I’m afraid I’m inclined to agree with Missfoodoflove’s farmer friend about winter this year. I’ve never seen so many berries on the trees.

Dinahmo we used to live in the Dordogne, loved the noise of the Gru.