pip24 Posted October 11, 2021 Share Posted October 11, 2021 Seen the first grues flying south today . There were five flocks of them but not as bigger flocks as previous years. They still made quite a noise though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anotherbanana Posted October 11, 2021 Share Posted October 11, 2021 Nice. We seem to have had the odd one here but they seem to be resident which is odd. Big increase in the number of giant white egrets this year; their range has gradually been moving north with climate change, apparently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Posted October 12, 2021 Share Posted October 12, 2021 Living in the Pyrenees they are a regular feature here and often overnight in an adjacent field. The row is incredible when they come into land. Often they wake us at night if the wind is strong (against them) so they fly very low to avoid it. Love to see them each year. I bet you never see them going back!!!!!! They do of course but don't make the same row as heading south so people don't look up and see them on the return trip! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soupagirl Posted October 12, 2021 Share Posted October 12, 2021 We heard the first ones going over in the early hours of Sunday. I love seeing them go, and come back again, it gives me a sense of the changing seasons that you don't really get when you live in a city. And reminds me that even times of pandemic, the cycle of nature goes on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pip24 Posted October 12, 2021 Author Share Posted October 12, 2021 Hi Ken we've always wondered where they overnight and guessed it might be Spain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Posted October 13, 2021 Share Posted October 13, 2021 As we live just 5 minutes from the frontier (About ten seconds if you are flying!!!!) I feel sure they do also overnight in Spain. Every year I spend a great deal of time watching them try and cross the mountains against a strong, and warm, southerly. In a way it's heartbreaking to see their formations broken up by the strong winds as they are pushed back into France. They never give up of course and reform and just try again until they succeed. It is when the strong southerly is blowing that they often come down very low and I would estimate that sometimes they are only several hundred metres above the house; the noise in incredible when that happens. In actual fact we saw our first flight this year about three weeks ago, quite early. The earlier they migrate then the worse the winter will be (that's the folk lore anyway!!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Posted October 20, 2021 Share Posted October 20, 2021 Well, no more grue. In fact we haven't seen any for weeks which at this time of the year is unusual. Probably the very warm weather is keeping them in the north. The small flight I saw several weeks ago had almost certainly come from Germany to claim the best spot in the south!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hectorsdad Posted November 10, 2021 Share Posted November 10, 2021 This year the numbers seem to be down and also spread out. Yesterday there were several squadrons passing overhead, probably amounting to a few thousand. Usually they appear at 5he turn of October and November but from the reports here they have been sporadic over a longer period. At least we are still in France so have not missed them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Posted November 11, 2021 Share Posted November 11, 2021 11 hours ago, Hectorsdad said: This year the numbers seem to be down and also spread out. Yesterday there were several squadrons passing overhead, probably amounting to a few thousand. Usually they appear at 5he turn of October and November but from the reports here they have been sporadic over a longer period. At least we are still in France so have not missed them. I agree, the numbers do seem to be down. A couple of weeks ago there were many flights, some just above the house because of the strong warm winds from the south. I can only think that the relatively warm weather has kept them in the north longer this year and that, eventually, as winter sets in they will head south in their usual numbers. We shall see!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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