Tuesday, March 13, 2007

Welcome back!

There are certain advantages to being off from work as Winter turns to Spring. Exiting the Post Office today (a place I rarely used because it was, as I have often said, one of those places whose business hours are designed to cater to the unemployed!), I heard a distant ruckus of honking, squawking geese. I tried to pinpoint the sound and realized that it was coming from directly overhead. And there, almost at the limit of visibility, was one of the biggest V-patterned flocks of migrating geese I had ever seen! I rushed to the car and pulled out the digital camera I had brought along. It was impossible to see the image on the LCD screen to get a proper zoom, so I just aimed the camera in the general direction, pressed the button, and hoped for the best. The photo above is the result.

Here is the zoom of the flock itself:
I'm used to kamikaze flocks of a dozen or so geese flying just above the housetops, making a sound like a pack of excited dogs. This is the biggest flock I've seen in a long time!

9 comments:

whimsical brainpan said...

Wow that is a huge flock! Nice pic, thanks for sharing it.

Gort said...

A truly welcome sight and sound of spring. 3 weeks til opening day!

dee said...

Now see, this is the difference between us. If I had a picture like that up, the title of my post would have been "What the Flock???"

Anonymous said...

An exhilirating bejeweling of the sky. Thanks.

Anonymous David

hedera said...

Wow, what a great picture. I didn't believe they were there until I zoomed the first picture. Amazing. You should show the link to siobhan.

Anonymous said...

coolness.

So, geek that I am, first thought was "Canada or White-fronted?" Second question was hmm, how many? I don't have the patience to count, but it looks like at least 150-200.

What a lovely sight.

SeattleDan said...

Very cool photo. Thanks for posting it. Waiting for the re-appearance of robins here in the backyard. Then I'll know spring is here.

Anonymous said...

i agree with david, and couldn't have said it better!

Anonymous said...

siobhan,

My younger sister would have immediately asked the same question.

Anonymous David