Sandhill cranes staging at Falling Downs

The first sighting of a Sandhill crane here was by my step-daughter Hanna back when we first bought the place. She was taking a ramble through the meadows and thought she'd seen a terradactyl. I can't blame her. They do look marvellously pre-historic.

This week, we've had several fly-overs of flocks of Sandhills. They're warming up for their trip to Mexico. When I say flocks, I mean dozens upon dozens.

Tonight we witnessed a fly-over of several hundred of them. They're still practising up for the big trip. There's a lot of talk back and forth. Their flying "Vs" don't have quite the definition as those of the Canada geese, but they're working on it.

There are benefits to living in the hinterlands. Ya, a Saturday Globe and Mail may run you $6.30, but where else do you get treated to a flyover of hundreds of Sandhill cranes, so close you can feel the whooshing of their wings?

A whole lotta honkin' goin' on

This time of year the Canada geese are tuning up for the big V that's gonna take 'em to the Carolinas and beyond, there to befoul the beaches and the public spaces over the winter months like they do here over the summer months.

The Canada geese are late to the game. The Sandhill cranes have left for their wintering roosts in Georgia and Florida and Alabama. The hummingbirds are gone too, off to Mexico and Guatemala and Panama.

The Sandhill cranes and the hummingbirds are gone. Wasn't a lot of fuss involved. The cranes ganged up for a few days, which is a sight to behold. The hummingbirds just left.

But these geese, by God, do they ever like to make it a dramatic production. They've got more test flights than the new Dreamliner. There's been at least half a dozen test take-offs over Falling Downs just this afternoon.

You can hear these test flights long before you can see them. There's a great honkin' ruckus emanating from the marsh. It gets louder, louder, and louder, till you see the first of the geese...

And then you realize why they need to practice.

There's a point goose, and a partial vee, and then... oh wait a minute... is that another point goose?.. and another vee?.. and oops, there's a batch of newbies flying four abreast... what the hell is that all about?

This does not only look sketchy to the human observer on the ground; it is the source of much ill will among the geese.

You can hear it in the honking.

Honkhonkhonk... over here, you fucking morons...

Honkhonkfuckyouhonk fall in behind I'm the honkin' leader...

Honkhonkhonk myass I'm the fucking leader honkhonk fall in now!...

Honkhonkhonk hey why we gotta fly in a fuckin' V when this straight line is so egalitarian and feels right honk honk...

Oh for honkhonk fucks sakes... fall in you fucking retards... we done this trip for a million generations...AND WE FLY IN A FUCKING VEE AND NOT IN A STRAIGHT HONKING LINE!!!