“The RoseBouquet”

Winter arrived Sunday night as rain and sleet turned quietly to snow. Monday morning when I went out for my early pre-breakfast walk I found the slushy wet snow as deep as my boots in some places! It has melted away some in the day-times over the last two days, and today the sun is out in full force, so I think we’ll lose most of it yet.

However, I can’t figure out those flocks of Canada Geese. For at least two to three weeks they have been doing flight practice over our town and countryside. Not just five or seven in a small V, but hundreds and maybe thousands of them in many Vs of various sides within a generally large V that overshadows Hague like a cloud. I thought at first it was one flock after another heading south, but in some of my walks out of town I’ve seen them congregating in enormous flocks in the harvested grain fields. I tell myself they are gleaning the dropped grain kernels like Ruth in the Bible, and fattening themselves up for their long flights to Texas or South America, or wherever they winter over.

I have tried taking some pictures but they don’t show up that well, and I forgot the digital camera the best morning when the sunrise was glinting like silver off their under bellies. With the coming of our first winter snow storm I thought these geese would be gone. They are suppose to know about these things.

Maybe they know we’re going to have a milder winter here, because this morning there were huge swarms of them in the sky. I don’t know if hunting season has opened yet, but today I heard gunshots over to the west of town. I’m guessing that someone is fed up with these Canada geese, or else has decided that since they obviously are not nearing extinction any more, it is safe to bring some down for supper.

One more thing I’ve observed this fall, is their mass honking. In the past I’ve heard the odd goose or three, so I recognized the sound whenever I heard it, but these days, with so many geese all honking encouragement to their fearless leaders, there is a strange undulating honk as hundreds and thousands of them overlap and are heard at the same time. I can tell from which direction a flock is coming overheard for several minutes before they come into sight…

This morning when those shots rang out, the honking sound crescendoed and flocks in every direction rose up from wherever they were and the sky filled with thousands of geese at once!

Shucks! And today I forgot the camera again!