Just went out on patio about 10.45am and heard this commotion. Looked to the sky and saw hundreds of geese flying over in several v formations heading approximately north west. Is this the usual time for this?

Probably just my mates Colin, Gavin, Marcus and Malcolm out on the honk

Not today I didn't but a few weeks ago I saw the same they were flying NW then too - it was a saturday afternoon about 3 weeks ago - 100's of them, again in loads of V formations, quite a spectacular sight

Yes I saw them there was hundreds,
never seen that many before

Perhaps they were on their way to York in advance of the foie gras ban?

Yes I saw them to whilst I was walking my dog on the Bole Hills at Crookes. I would say they were heading in the Bradfield direction which is sort of West from where I was. At least 4 V formations and with hundreds of Geese in each. Any Twitchers on here know where they would be going ?

Awww darnit - I love seeing Geese head over - always reminds me of squadrons of fighter planes :)

They're Canada geese flying over to Lancashire,apparently.(This from a bird-watching expert I know).

Guys at work (Darnall) saw them, I had the blind shut coz its so sunny. Round 10:30 11:00 ish

I used to sometimes see them flying over at this time of the year when I lived in Parson Cross.

You wouldnt see em now mate even the geese fly around that part of town!! from what i hear they got less chance of gettin shot during a hunt than flyin over t cross!!!:hihi:

why do ducks fly in v formations?

Two skeins of geese heading NW over Bradfield about 2 pm. There were some last week too, - Friday or Saturday I think.

Hope it's not an omen of bad weather on the way...some forecasters are suggesting a cold snap in February.

why do ducks fly in v formations?
Have a look at this

http://ask.yahoo.com/20020222.html

I saw them the other week when I in the Brincliffe area. It was so beautiful to see them all working together. A toddler was asking his Daddy where they were going...

The wonders of nature.

Have a look at this

http://ask.yahoo.com/20020222.htmlwell you learn something new every day. Thanks davyboy.

You wouldnt see em now mate even the geese fly around that part of town!! from what i hear they got less chance of gettin shot during a hunt than flyin over t cross!!!:hihi:
Actually, I live in Longley and I heard/saw them about 10.30 this morning whilst hangin out my washin ;)

Yep heard them also, my boss got on his video phone, he was speechless as he's never seen that before, it is pretty spectacular and they aren't half noisy aren't they!

Also saw them today Never seen so many ' V ' formations together very impresive sight flew in from the Sth East going Nth West . As they looked like Canadian brown geese would they be all flying back to Canada after wintering in the continent ?? .

Near to where I used to work was a very large lake used by a lot of water fowl on the River Calder, one Saturday dinnertime I was just closing the works up, when I heard the stangest 'whooshing' sound above me.
It was many hundreds of Geese coming into land on the lake about half a mile ahead, they were following the line of the river.
They must only about 30' up at that point, and their eyes were only focused on the lake, I have never seen a sight like it.
They were the black necked ones, Canada geese I think they are called.
I think they only stayed for a rest, for they had all gone a day later.

Actually, I live in Longley and I heard/saw them about 10.30 this morning whilst hangin out my washin ;)

exactly my point they are flyin over longley now!!:hihi:

I have some video here, it's not brilliant but I will share it with you.

Wave after wave of these Canada Geese came over our property (about 10-12 miles south of the city) at about 10.15 am. The fly past lasted about 20 minutes, long after I stopped videoing them. I've never seen so many in my life! There's also an unedited photo, one of several I took after grabbing my camera. :)

Geese Video (http://s33.photobucket.com/albums/d65/shoeshine22/?action=view&current=MOV00180.flv)

Geese Photo (http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d65/shoeshine22/DSC00174.jpg?t=1170239763)

Thanks for the video! It was nice to re-live it. I wasnt smart enough to grab my camera.

Mod: Noticed you'd moved it. I put it in Sheffield Chat cos they were flying over sheffield! I know it doesnt make any difference really.

Thanks for the video! It was nice to re-live it. I wasnt smart enough to grab my camera.

Mod: Noticed you'd moved it. I put it in Sheffield Chat cos they were flying over sheffield! I know it doesnt make any difference really.

Thanks for your remarks, Yellowrose. I was struggling all day yesterday trying to find a solution as to how I could get the video to work on the Forum. :) Solved the problem this morning.

I did think about starting a Thread about the "flyover" too. In the event, I spent the time educating myself on the technicalities.

I only wish now that, instead of shooting photographs on my camera, I had started videoing from the beginning to end of the passage of these beautiful birds. :(

It was a sight (and sound) I shall never forget. :)

exactly my point they are flyin over longley now!!:hihi:
You cheeky thing....Can't fault 'em tho!

;)

Thanks for your remarks, Yellowrose. I was struggling all day yesterday trying to find a solution as to how I could get the video to work on the Forum. :) Solved the problem this morning.

I did think about starting a Thread about the "flyover" too. In the event, I spent the time educating myself on the technicalities.

I only wish now that, instead of shooting photographs on my camera, I had started videoing from the beginning to end of the passage of these beautiful birds. :(

It was a sight (and sound) I shall never forget. :)

Fantastic video shoey, you may get the hang of this new technology one day!! :thumbsup:
Do they migrate in such numbers every year, or are they having a good year this year?
Are they flying south for the winter, or north for the summer? or are they as mixed up as we are :hihi:

I'm wondering if I saw the scouts arriving a couple of evenings ago.

I was coming out of the PO at Woodseats about 4.30 pm Monday afternoon and saw a small skein of geese flying north-east ... the sun was reflecting off them at one point and it was lovely to see, they were very high though ... at the same time the starlings were flying out of the city into the countryside for the night ... compared to the orderly progression of the geese, they were like an unruly mob tumbling about in the sky above me. although the choreography is amazing.

Fantastic video shoey, you may get the hang of this new technology one day!! :thumbsup:


My 11 year old grandson knows all the techie things.......trouble was, he was at school a long way away in Sheffield yesterday.....:)

Thanks for your kind comments artisan! :thumbsup:

Fantastic video shoey, you may get the hang of this new technology one day!! :thumbsup:
Do they migrate in such numbers every year, or are they having a good year this year?
Are they flying south for the winter, or north for the summer? or are they as mixed up as we are :hihi:

So that"s where all our Geese are! We havn"t seen them lately.We usually see them every day. They arrive here in Southport in October and stay till February. Truly magnificent! They move around wherever the food is, and then head back to Iceland in Feb to breed.They come here because it"s winter in Iceland,and food is scarce.Some even fly at night,and honk to each other to let the others know their position.

Yes, thanks for the video shoeshine. I saw (and heard!) a couple of hundred over Handsworth this afternoon, but not as many as in your video.

That link about the V formation was interesting as well, but I wonder if the honking has any signficance. Discussing directions maybe, or perhaps just chatting to pass the time?

Near to where I used to work was a very large lake used by a lot of water fowl on the River Calder, one Saturday dinnertime I was just closing the works up, when I heard the stangest 'whooshing' sound above me.
It was many hundreds of Geese coming into land on the lake about half a mile ahead, they were following the line of the river.
They must only about 30' up at that point, and their eyes were only focused on the lake, I have never seen a sight like it.
They were the black necked ones, Canada geese I think they are called.
I think they only stayed for a rest, for they had all gone a day later.

I have seen the videos and read the threads, but at that moment they passed over me they were silent, what could be the reason for this?
I could hear no noise from the lake, as the factory machinery was between me and the lake.
Could it be that as they were concentrating so much on landing on the lake that they stopped calling to each other?
I can say that as they flew above me at that low hieght they made no noise.

I was walking on Wadsley Common yesterday when I saw the flyover. At first I couldn't work out where the sound was coming from and thought that someone nearby must be keeping them and they were being attacked by a fox and freaking out. It took a while to figure out that the noise was too great to be a few geese in someone's garden and that they were on the wing above- D'oh!.

About five sizable 'V' formations flew overhead initially, trying to integrate into one giant 'V'. This was closely followed by three large formations, again trying to join as one and then a bit later two more formations flying close together.

An old man I passed said that it was the most he'd ever seen in his lifetime.

Don't know about all of them but the big lot of geese that went over on Tuesday certainly weren't Canada geese, they were pink footed geese flying from Norfolk ( where they will probably have been feeding on sugar beet tops) to Lancashire, probably to Martin Mere.

You cheeky thing....Can't fault 'em tho!

;)

well the scenery is much better over longley than on t cross:hihi: :hihi:

well the scenery is much better over longley than on t cross:hihi: :hihi:
How true! What, with all us luvverly Longley-ers in it!

He He!

Yes, thanks for the video shoeshine. I saw (and heard!) a couple of hundred over Handsworth this afternoon, but not as many as in your video.

That link about the V formation was interesting as well, but I wonder if the honking has any signficance. Discussing directions maybe, or perhaps just chatting to pass the time?

Im sure I read somewhere that the honking is like encouragement, "sort of come on keep up, we can do it" etc!

Im sure I read somewhere that the honking is like encouragement, "sort of come on keep up, we can do it" etc!

Sounds plausible - thanks for that :)

Don't know about all of them but the big lot of geese that went over on Tuesday certainly weren't Canada geese, they were pink footed geese flying from Norfolk ( where they will probably have been feeding on sugar beet tops) to Lancashire, probably to Martin Mere.

I wondered about pink footed, as my bird book specifically mentions extended Vs of several hundred birds. Not really enough info to make a distinction though - what did you base your identification on?

The noise they were making, the formation that they were flying in and also the direction that they were going.

The noise they were making, the formation that they were flying in and also the direction that they were going.

So you didn't actually see any pink feet then :suspect:

Just kidding - thanks for the info :thumbsup: