"And far abune the Angus straths I saw the wild geese flee,
A lang, lang skein o' beatin' wings, wi' their heids towards the sea,
And aye their cryin' voices trailed ahint them on the air--"
O Wind, hae maircy, haud yer whisht, for I daurna listen mair!"
Violet Jacob, Angus Poet
Violet Jacob, Angus Poet
You would think that catching sight of and photographing the pink footed geese that over winter at Montrose Basin would be easy. They come in from their breeding grounds in Iceland and many overwinter here. There were a record breaking 65,000 at the last count.....
From the end of August we hear the geese at the basin and flying overhead. The numbers swell to a peak in October. If you go outside at night you can hear the cocophany of sound from the resting birds.
As the sun rises great V's of birds cross the sky, more mature birds leading the way, often in family groups. Apart from the noise of their beating wings there is constant squawking conversation among the birds.
"Are you sure you know the way?", "I think it's that way...", "There's a field down there", "Come on keep up!"
If you want to see the geese at the basin you have to pick your moment. Low tide is probably best either before or after they have fed. Otherwise you are reduced to looking upwards as they fly overhead...
We obviously picked the wrong moment. Every time we went near the basin, not a goose to be seen. Mind you it's big so we may have just picked the wrong "vantage" point. Most of my sightings of the geese (until today) was of the overhead variety. No wonder I've got crick in my neck...
I had an idea to take a photo of the Goose sculpture in the town. That's the best close-up you're going to get. You didn't think they were real did you?
Then I went up onto the old footbridge over the railway...
There is a great view from there over the Basin. And What did I spot? Pink Footed Geese. No telescopic lens so you'll have to take my word for it that these dots are geese. If you look carefully you can see some in flight on the right of the picture.
If you would like to see and more importantly hear the geese click on this Montrose Basin. link.
Violet Jacob was a well known Angus Poet who lived withing spitting distance of the Montrose basin at the House of Dun and could see the geese from her windows.
But being a lady she wouldn't have done much spitting!
Beautiful shots - when we were in Norfolk last month there were hundreds of pink foots but my shots were rubbish. Well done.
ReplyDeleteWell, I never even heard of a pink footed goose! Learned something new today! And I love your flying geese photos.
ReplyDeleteThe geese are flying here too. We are a major destination point them. There will be hundreds upon thousands in the corn fields all winter. A sure sign that fall has arrived. Stunning photo of the countryside, by the way.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful photos, love the sculpture to start with.Your post has taken me back 20 odd years to when we lived in the NW of England near to Martin Mere Nature Reserve and had 20,000 plus pink footed geese each winter. They would fly over our house calling their evocative call and we would know "the geese are back" for another year. Your Montrose basin must be a super place to visit!
ReplyDelete65,000--sometimes you really do just have to say OMG. That video was amazing. I never think of geese being majestic, but in those numbers they definitely are. Hearing migratory birds always makes me a little itchy-footed to get on the road to anywhere.
ReplyDeleteI love your photo of the footbridge.
Elaine, there were almost no geese photos at all. It's amazing how 60,000 + geese could be so evasive.
ReplyDeleteHolley, Thanks for the kind comment. Shame they don't have geese in your part of the world.
Ann, Pauline, hearing the geese is so much a part of changes in season. I love seeing them but I don't think the farmers are very happy with that many eating their grass.
Stacy, the footbridge is very rusty but a great place to watch goings on at the Basin.
We have a similar phenomena with the migration of the snow geese through Chesapeake Bay. It really is a wonder of nature. Thanks for sharing yours.
ReplyDeleteI love it that geese come to Scotland for the winter warmth. They have been flying over here all week. I love measuring time by the passage of the birds. Soon it will be the owls calling through the November nights.
ReplyDeleteJanet I keep turning on the radio and hearing more and more remarkable things about bird lore. I left standing!
ReplyDeleteHello again, Janet :-)
ReplyDeleteYou did well with your shots. I understand completely how hard they are to capture. I understand that neck crick too. I love the word cocophany… I love to hear them overhead too.
Wow… what a great video capture in your link. It’s a huge pity they didn’t cut the sound (wind noise) and add a gentle music track. I know you could just about hear the birds and how frustrating it is when wind noise (or noisy garden appliances) appears in good captures. Great to see though, fantastic numbers way above sightings in our area. However, still enjoy seeing the ‘V’s’ flying overhead here :-)
Some geese stay and some go. Your photos of their journey are so beautiful. I love hearing them fly overhead...always a joy.
ReplyDeleteIt seems a lot of fellow bloggers like the geese and their sound as much as I do. Some of the other video links were much better for sound but i had to link to our local reserve with the old Church of Montrose in the background.
ReplyDeleteI love watching geese fly, something about that perfect V shape always seems magical.
ReplyDelete