The time has come. It's the time of year our feathered friends make their long journey south for the winter. Last night on our walk we saw a group of Canada Geese making their journey. We watched them put on a show for us - making their letter V. It's pretty neat to see.
Zada came blasting down the stairs as if the ice cream truck just delivered 10 Tons of ice cream on our doorstep she says "DID YOU HEAR THAT DID YOU HEAR THAT?" Startled by her excitement I stopped doing my domestic duties (drinking tea and watching tv).
What? I asked. What is outside? As she's putting on her shoes very frantically to go see she says... The geese are doing their dance in the sky!
So out we went and she was so excited to see that all the geese were in their "V" formation. Then she explains to me why they are doing that - they are going to go to the south to be warm.
So winter is on it's way! Winter. Is. On. It's. Way. I guess that's hard to imagine if you're in Missouri and still experiencing heat.
Below are some fun facts about Geese:
- As each goose flaps its wings it creates an "uplift" for the birds that follow. By flying in a "V" formation, the whole flock adds 71% greater flying range than if each bird flew alone
- When a goose falls out of formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of flying alone. It quickly moves back into formation to take advantage of the lifting power of the bird immediately in front of it.
- When the lead goose tires, it rotates back into the formation and another goose flies to the point position.
- The geese flying in formation honk to encourage those up front to keep up their speed.
- When a goose gets sick, wounded or shot down, two geese drop out of formation and follow it down to help and protect it. They stay with it until it dies or is able to fly again. Then, they launch out with another formation or catch up with the flock.
