Reading this reminded me of my trips to the Solway and of those magical mornings and evenings in the twilight with the skiens of geese flying overhead and the air filled with their wionderful sound. Truly one of the great experiences of the natural world
Barnacle Geese are a miracle of nature. Every winter they make a 4,000 mile round trip from their home in Svalbard near the Arctic Circle to Western Scotland.
Imagine travelling that distance each and every year over the course of your lifetime, under your own steam?
These long distance travellers are remarkable because they use their own in-built ‘sat navs’ to escape the freezing cold of Spitzbergen’s islands to spend four months in Scotland.
It’s a bit like long haul tourists heading to Oz for some winter sunshine and relaxation.
Although Scotland’s climate is still pretty cold, it’s much milder than the Arctic Circle and distinctly lush and green compared with Svalbard’s icy wastes.
Better still, this great bird migration spectacle is bang on my doorstep.
The Solway Firth and the Caerlaverock Wildlands and Wetlands Nature Reserve are the best places to see the Barnacle Geese in the UK so…
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