Goose walk

We were up at 4am this morning to head to the shores of Loch Lomond to go on a goose walk led by the local RSPB team.  Pretty fun driving in the dark, walking with a group to the shores and then waiting for the sun to come up to see some geese. 

At Loch Lomond they have some White Fronted geese who over-winter before heading to Greenland to breed in the spring.  The staff do a lot of land management to try and make the reserve as good a place as possible for the geese to rest and get ready for the breeding season, sadly the numbers seem to be declining.  Partly climate change, loss of habitat and partly competition from the more aggressive Canadian geeses.

We didn't see many geese, and none of the White Fronted geese as the weather was not the most amenable.  However, it was much better than the gale force winds and buckets of rain which happened last week when the walk was initially scheduled.  It was nice to be out to meet the dawn and talk to some other bird nerds too for a couple of hours.

Following the walk we have a vegan link sausage bap and a drink in Balmaha then headed home for a nap and lazy afternoon. Jobs to do tomorrow!