first light, first geese

Waking just after dawn, I heard the geese. Over 30,000 barnacles overwinter on the Solway - the entire Svalbard population - arriving here from the end of September and staying until February. At night they gather on the merse, and in the morning they move off to nearby fields to feed.

As the first light of day appears, you can see them moving up the estuary, and then a few at a time, they take off and fly inland, in huge "V" formation. 

It's a magical sight, and the reason why I bivvy out near Caerlaverock at this time of year. Last night I left D and Jess in the van at Castle Corner and walked to the bird hide. The moonlight was so bright that I didn't need a torch. I woke up with a thin layer of frost on the bag, but I was warm enough inside it, wearing lots of layers.

We spent the extra hour brewing up a pot of coffee and watching the sun shining on Criffel :-)