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Our Country Mouse columnist Mark Hedges on the joys of watching the V-formations of wild geese that dot the skies above us at this time of year.
There are a few moments in the year that stand out above all the others. The first snowdrop flowering, swallows arriving from Africa in April, hearing the cuckoo, mayflies hatching in May and the roses and summer solstice in June, but for epic scale, drama and operatic glory nothing matches the wild geese arriving now.
There are about one million migrants, almost half of which are pink-footed from Iceland and Greenland, plus barnacle, brent, greylag, white-fronted, bean and others.
Geese fly in V-shaped skeins, which has been proven to be aerodynamically efficient, but that is only the beginning of the spectacle. The numbers can be enormous from hundreds to super skeins of several thousand birds forming vast avian chains across the sky and these are big birds weighing about 5lb with wingspans of 5ft–6ft.
However, it is the noise that sets them apart and makes the hairs stand up on the back of my neck. Their ink-ink or ank-ank calls are used to keep the flock together, coordinate movement in the formation and communication between parents and young birds to keep the family group intact.
Together, it is a chorus of such beauty that it has been compared to a group of foxhounds in full cry: they are the hounds of heaven.
Exquisite houses, the beauty of Nature, and how to get the most from your life, straight to your inbox.
Mark grew up in the Cotswolds and began his career as a gold prospector. He became editor-in-chief of Country Life in 2006, having previously been in charge of more than 50 magazines, including Horse & Hound. He attributes his success to David Bowie and fly-fishing.
