The local geese seem to spend much of their time these days on the fields below Milner Field Farm. I've seen them increase over the years from a handful to a huge number, seemingly driving down the numbers of ducks and swans in the process. This is just a fraction of the flock, mostly Canada geese with a few Greylag interlopers. They make very efficient lawn-mowers. Apparently an adult can eat over a kilo of grass a day.
I say 'flock' but it should rightly be 'gaggle of geese', I suppose. I still have my childhood copy of a fascinating book called 'The New First Aid in English' by Angus Maciver (old even then!) which carefully explained the various vagaries of English grammar. I was spellbound! I particularly enjoyed its fascinating list of the collective nouns for various birds and animals. A charm of goldfinches, a lek of grouse, a scold of jays, an exaltation of larks, a siege of herons, a parliament of owls. No matter that you rarely see most of those in groups anyway... It's a nice idea.
Apparently the gut of a goose is ill-adapted to a diet of grass, which is why they eat so much (and apparently defecate even more!). Keep an eye out for more unusual geese in any flock/gaggle you see this year; there's a lot of them about.
ReplyDeleteI admit to tilting my head to get the trees to be vertical in this shot. I guess it's supposed to be a "forest of trees?"
ReplyDeleteOur Canada Geese seem to be everywhere these days.
ReplyDeleteOften to be seen in groups: "A giggle of girls".
ReplyDeleteOur national namesake get to a lot of places.
ReplyDeleteI'm a fan of a murder of crows.
ReplyDelete