Now I think it is fallacy that animals do not look up into the sky......true they don't generally day dream when cloud watching, but when there is something of interest to note ( a buzzard, a sparrow hawk etc) the field protectors such as the cockerels will look up and growl a warning to the rest of the flock.
William, on occasion has been seen sitting calmly watching a passing low plane with benign interest, and this morning I spied Camilla arching her graceful head up into the air, seemingly fascinated with something far away in the heavens.
I stopped what I was doing and followed her gaze, and there flying in an untidy "V" way out above the Gop was a flock of wild geese.
The breeze carried their cries down over Trelawnyd, and gently Camilla honked back, flapping her wings wide and bowing her head low then upwards again, her eyes never leaving the V as it ebbed and flowed across the clouds
For an awful moment I thought she would try and join them.
But then good, old dependable Winnie ambled up beside her,
she also bowed and arched her head in acknowledgement of the interlopers, but did so rather half heartedly, and within seconds the two geese relaxed and started to graze the grass again quietly and without fuss.
...and I let out a small sigh of relief
Phew! I thought she would have tried to join them too.
ReplyDeleteWouldn't she need a long runway to taxi along to get airbourne?
I feel the same when I see the Red Arrows go over, then -as we all must - reluctantly return to my humdrum terrestrial life.
ReplyDeleteYou know John that if she does take flight to join her own it's because of your care that she got there, so don't be too blue if she stretches them wings ol' lad.
ReplyDeleteJohn W.
Our dog, Monty, certainly looks at planes as they go over. I watch him, as he watches them.
ReplyDeleteHave you seen the 1996 film 'Fly away Home'?
She knows a good life - sensible girl! Matt Munroe had a lovely voice didn't he? Wasn't he the one who was a bus conductor before he made it big?
ReplyDeleteyes cro
ReplyDeleteI have seen it
I wonder if I will cut the mustard teaching camilla to fly from the back door of a Citroen berlingo!
John, I have to tell you that I have wondered if Camilla would at some point fly off. Years of internal programming may make it difficult for her not too--Instincts can be hard to ignore. I learned that this week with our Scottie! ;-)
ReplyDeleteLoved the post. But I can't believe "you made me" listen to that song first!
ReplyDeleteEven if she did go she'd probably be back next Spring. But I'm glad she chose to stay.
ReplyDeleteI don't think your poor old heart could take her leaving right now, eh John?
ReplyDeleteA french-canadian author told this story about him rescuing a wild goose in Autumn. It took a few weeks for the goose to recover and was then too late to let her go... All the wild geese were gone and he might not have been able to find her way alone.
ReplyDeleteSo he kept the wild goose with his own domestic geese. The wild goose never interacted with his domestic cousins, he event kind of look down on them. He stayed the entire winter perched on a wooden beam, close to the roof of the barn. The man guessed that the wild goose came down during the night to feed himself.
One morning in early spring, the man went to the barn to feed the animals. The moment he opened the door, he could barely step aside as the wild goose rushed out of the barn and took his flight to join a flock of his sisters who were just cruising over the land.
If Camilla came to you while she was very young, if she has never lived the wild life, if she never experienced the migration, there's little chance she might leave you!
To release her, you'll have to bring her to a nesting flock of wild geese and stay with her as long as she hasn't been accepted by the flock.
I'm no expert... I'm just telling what I've read here and there. Sorry for such a long comment! ;)
Have a great weekend, John
Hugs
Jon
p.s. Great song... he reminds me of M. Sinatra...
deep down I know she will stay...she knows nothing but humans and chickens. but there is always a chance!!!
ReplyDeleteI think you'll find that even if she flew away, she'd always come back.
ReplyDeleteAn apartment that I used to rent was on a beautiful lake. The Natural Resource Dept. brought Canadian geese to live there. They would fly to the next lake then back. There were so many geese that you dared not to walk on the grass for the droppings. Most of them even stayed throughout the winter.
Her natural instincts stirred but her heart told her to stay.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Stew, if she were to let her instincts get the better of her, she would be back in the spring, if only to stop and visit. In your heart, you know that if she wants to go, you need to let her. I hope she does stay.
ReplyDeleteThere will be other flight formations passing over and the tug on her instincts will be strong...she may go yet....but as has been said here by others, she will likely return to this spot. She certainly is a beauty.
ReplyDeleteOh dear...I can imagine how it felt watching her looking up at the sky as the flock flew over. Enjoy her while you can John. OH and thanks for the memories...I loved that song and the movie! Have a wonderful Labor Day weekend....
ReplyDeleteMaura :)
She's happy where she is. :)
ReplyDeleteI feel the same way about our domesticated mallards! Every evening they take a wide fly over the farm and I almost hold my breath till they land again.Being close to a large lake we have many wild ducks fly over...I hope mine do not decide to join them!
ReplyDeleteCamilla did join them in her heart/ instinct. That must be an overwhelming feeling to not 'understand' how or why something so powerful is overtaking you.
ReplyDeleteGreat observations today John.....you 'fowl whisperer' you!
DeepBlue is correct. I'm a retired wildlife rehabilitator and had my own avian sanctuary.I have had to train wild birds to be wild because unthinking (but caring) people have raised baby wild birds as pets, then got tired of them, or the birds do not fit in with their routine. They try unsuccesfully to return the bird to the wild then when the bird has no clue, they would bring the bird to me. If a bird is not raised wild,it really doesn't know what it is supposed to do, so sticks with what it knows.
ReplyDeleteJane x
I think Miss Camilla realizes she's got it good..but wild instinct is hard to break
ReplyDeleteI thought it was interesting what Deep Blue had to say. I guess it will be a wait and see thing?
ReplyDeleteGill in Canada
I hope she stays. I have to admit I've had a bit of fear that she would try to join her wild cousins.
ReplyDeleteI tend to agree with you about animals generally not looking up. But there are always exceptions.
ReplyDeleteMy sister-in-law's Jack Russell, Ruby, is one such. She watches aeroplanes, the pigeons on the roof, in fact anything in the air while the other dogs keep their noses fixed on the ground. Odd.
When I hear geese fly overhead, I long to fly with them, too.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad she chose the humans and the chickens, she knows where she is safe, and loved.
ReplyDeleteThere are times I think we would all like to join the flying geese..
~Jo
What a lovely story John - I am sure that geese do watch their cousins flying over, I abe had similar experiences. In some ways it is rather sad as though they envy the long journey.
ReplyDeleteMaybe one day she will join the migrating flocks. As sad as it would be for you and your readers, just think of what a gift it would be to Camilla (no matter how much I dislike her namesake!) to be able to soar in the heavens and spend her time with others just like her. If she were mine and she left, I would cry. I would cry tears of sorrow for my loss but I would also cry tears of joy for her choice to live free...
ReplyDeleteIf your next video clip is Sarah Brightman singing "Time to Say Goodbye", we'll now what happened.
ReplyDeleteYou are lovely John. xxxx
ReplyDeleteI know Diane
ReplyDeletexxxx
They might dream of flying free but plainly they know which side of the fence their bread is buttered... so to speak.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful moment of connection with her wild free self and her in nate urges.Mine fly every day, not far and not high but they like to keep in practise in case they want to set off for Canada!
ReplyDeleteIn the last place i lived, before it become much more developed, we'd have a number of hot air balloons fly over. One landed next door in the neighbour's back yard, and all of us who were home came out to help. A number of other balloons would fly low, as there were a number of open fields then where they could safely land.
ReplyDeleteWhen the balloons were low enough, you could hear the billows.
All animals upon hearing the billows would look up and scurry for cover.
We also had large numbers of geese fly over and honk to each other. Some stayed all year 'round, others migrated from their summer homes points north. We often heard the air movement as they flew over, and of course it was often accompanied by their honking. My cats would look up at them.
Perhaps if the V were closer to the ground, Camilla would have felt more like trying. If she does go, John, know that you gave her a space where she could grow and have the chance to be herself. That's a fine gift.
megan
We also get a lot of hot air balloons going up on cool summer mornings, and it used to absolutely terrify our previous dog. I used to wonder what he thought was going on.(But then I often wonder that about animals.)
ReplyDeleteAnd THANK YOU Winnie for talking our homegirl down off the ledge! Hormones can be such a bitch. I mean, really. Haven't we all gone chasing after some mysteriously honking stranger at some point and lived to regret it?
;-)
If Camilla follows her instincts to join a flock, you'll just have to comfort yourself with knowing it's in the nature of the beast. (And after all, she WAS "born free", right?) I wonder, though, how a wild flock would interact with a goose who'd been around humans?
ReplyDeleteAs for critters looking up, I've heard, but never verified, that turkeys are so intelligence-challenged, they look skyward during the rain ... and drown. True?
The other story, I know is true, because I've seen videos of it. When aviators fly over Antarctica, the penguins look up and watch the planes fly overhead and beyond, and actually fall over backwards in the process. Hysterical!