Over the next few weeks, tens of thousands of geese will be migrating to our shores. Huge numbers of Barnacle, Brent and Pink-Footed Geese can be spotted along our shoreline. In winter, their home in the Arctic becomes much colder and every year there is a mass exodus, as thousands of birds escape the winter darkness. Many come to the UK because it’s warmer, lighter and has much more food than they could find at home.
We can spot these birds whilst out walking or even when driving. Their honking calls come first, followed by the unmistakable ‘V-shape’ flying formation, known as a Skein. Like the Red Arrows, they streak across the sky. The most likely explanation for this behaviour is that this formation reduces the energy used to fly. Each bird can effectively ‘ride’ the air that passes the wings of the bird in front, which gives it a slight lift. This means they don’t need to use as much energy to fly and any energy they can save could make the difference between surviving a migration or not.
But for the bird at the front of the ‘V’, they won’t benefit. However, it’s been found that each bird in the formation will take it’s turn at the front of the line. This sharing behaviour could demonstrate close bonds between individuals, or just be a case of some aerial pushing and shoving. Whatever it is, it produces some of the most stunning scenes of our Autumn.
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8th October 2023 Just seen large skein of geese flying very high and heading south or south-west – we live on the moors of West Yorkshire (Oxenhope)
I live in North Yorkshire and observed lots of geese flying over this cold and frost morning, found your site which I found fascinating and helpful, thankyou
Tracey Phillips
Arrived here in wells next the sea at about 11am. It’s 4th January and immediately on arrival we heard the first geese and a rough count of the skein was about 150 birds. It was like the airport flight path, with every half mile there was another group. I think there were thousands and when we left at 1400 hrs they were still coming across in huge skeins with 4 groupes just in our eyeline.