Flying ducks

[mint]

No, not those ceramic ones that come in sets of 3 that you put on your walls.  I mean beautiful real ones that fly in such fantastic formations.  I love watching them and I love their cry.

They were a good intro this morning to a French neighbour who lives 2 doors down and 2 small fields away.  We waved and made eye contact and used sign language (too far away to talk) to indicate what a beautiful sight there was in the sky.

Perhaps Chris PP or some other nature enthusiast can expand a little more on this subject?

[Panda]

Hello

Ducks flying in formation, not something I've seen here, I've got loads of the blighters quacking at stupid o'clock right outside my house at the moment though, lovely as they are they can really squawk when the maitng season starts approaching!  It's my own fault as I encourage them on the lake by daily feeding, they are beautiful when coming in to land I could watch them all day.

Panda

[mint]

Panda, where do you live?  I believe I'm correct in thinking that the west coast of France is one of the great migratory routes for birds.  Chris, where are you; please come and explain more.

I think these beautiful things must be flying north as they seemed to be heading that way.  But, imagine having to go thousands of miles just "for the season"?  But then, I suppose some of the humans on this very Forum do the same?[:)]

[Panda]

Hello

Northern Charente near the border with the Dordogne.  There were hundreds of cranes flying over today going North, beuatiful sight and all calling to each other, swirling in formation.  Meg's thread on spring arriving has some great shots, I didn't bother to try and get a picture today as they fly so high.

Panda 

[FairyNuff]

We've just come back indoors after a cycle ride, having seen about 20 deer in the fields and skeins of what seemed like hundreds of geese or ducks flying eastwards in the evening light. They were quite an awesome sight, but too high to identify unfortunately.

FairyNuff[blink]

[chris pp]

I strongly suspect that what you were seeing was Cranes, the last couple of weeks has seen a vast movement to the north east almost daily. The only other birds that are moving north east in numbers at the moment are Lapwings but they fly in "packs" rather than formations and have rapid flapping wing beats.

I should add that early today they weren't to high, but this afternoon they were on a rather high airstream and being carried along at about 150kph.

 

Chris

[mint]

Oh Chris, thank you for posting.  Yes, they were definitely cranes; I saw them through my binoculars.  And I think I also saw lapwings a couple of days ago.

They are just so beautiful and I so admire their survival instinct.

[Philouis]

Adding to the Crane postings. The day before yesterday, whilst working in my garden, there were continuous formations of them crossing our property from south to north. They are very clever to pick days when the wind or airstream is in the right direction, as they were speeding along effortlessly. Every now and again they would all stop and circle;  this is when they hit a thermal which lifts them much higher in the sky, then as they continue,  they go, losing height to make a more effortless & speedier journey. They were at a height of  500 to 1000 metres.

Regarding the Lapwings. The fields around here were full of the feeding birds. But over the past few days there have been no sightings. Spring is here! Bring on the Swallows and Martins!