Geese

It's the time of year when the Canada geese start to appear here in their southerly migration - that's the simple version.  But what they actually do here seems more complex.  This morning I was out to have a headlight repaired in my car, and when I arrived back home, I heard geese calling.  I saw them - just a few of them - almost directly overhead, flying pretty much due west. 

An hour later I heard more geese and went outside - this time there were more - two orderly V's - flying east.  Their formation shifted languidly from V's to a W, then Y, and back again, thirty or forty birds this time.  I believe what they're doing is settling down for the next few weeks in various local ponds and creeks to feed and fatten themselves up for their ultimate long journey south.  They'll be everywhere for a month or so then suddenly, gone.