With no significant rain for over nine weeks we are in drought conditions. Small streams have dried up and only deeper rivers and ponds are now sustained. Furthermore, grasslands are now shrivelled and burnt. The local rainfall chart shows that we have had below average rainfall for 6 of the last 8 months.
Listening to radio 4 I learnt a new word last week - skein - the name for a flock of geese flying together in a V formation. The timing of this was very useful as for the past week each evening we have had geese flying overhead in a skein.
The loss of grassland due to drought in our area has triggered our resident Canada Geese that live in and around Buckland Lake to leave the lake in the day in search of grass. Their diet consists primarily of grass and a goose will eat up to 3 lbs of grass per day so it becomes a serious matter when the local food supply is lost. Over the last week at dusk (around 9pm) I have heard the honking sound of large numbers of geese returning home to roost as they fly in a line or skein, from their feeding ground to the west to Buckland lake. It is a most maginficent site. Unfortunately it is too dark to film at this time but here is a film I made of a similar daily migration in 2019.
The loss of grassland due to drought in our area has triggered our resident Canada Geese that live in and around Buckland Lake to leave the lake in the day in search of grass. Their diet consists primarily of grass and a goose will eat up to 3 lbs of grass per day so it becomes a serious matter when the local food supply is lost. Over the last week at dusk (around 9pm) I have heard the honking sound of large numbers of geese returning home to roost as they fly in a line or skein, from their feeding ground to the west to Buckland lake. It is a most maginficent site. Unfortunately it is too dark to film at this time but here is a film I made of a similar daily migration in 2019.
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