At first light this morning, Eddie started barking, ran along the corridor, skidded through our bedroom and jumped out the window onto the veranda. My first thought was the fox, which sometimes checks out the veranda for scraps, especially at that time of the morning; but it turned out to be the sound of half a dozen Canada Geese flying low across the sound towards the mainland.Strangford's Canada Geese are feral, having been brought over in the 1700's as ornamentals, so they don't migrate, but it's as if they feel they should: in early September they begin to get restless, and their very vocal fly-bys are a sure sign of the change of season. In a few weeks they will be joined by 15-20,000 Brent Geese, around three-quarters of the European population.
