Over the past few days the sight of geese flying north has become increasingly common. I fervently hope that increasingly warmer weather is coming close on the tails of these migrating flocks.
I'm always captivated by the ever shifting formations. This evening a flock passed overhead and from the ground it looked like a dark arrow roughly the length of a football field sailing overhead. Seamlessly, the shaft of the arrow disappeared, leaving only the arrowhead itself. The arrowhead morphed into a wide V resembling the wings that airline pilots sometimes pin to the shirts of child travelers.
I wondered at the reason for the constant shifts in formation. Is there a designated captain calling out position changes to keep the flight from getting boring or are there dissenters within the flock?
I imagine a straggling female goose double timing to the front of the formation. As she passes the others she honks - my husband has no idea where he's going, and I know he's not going to ask for directions. Then the dissenter veers slightly to the left.
With the seed of doubt successfully planted, the other geese shift positions to follow the new leader. The revised flight plan may be a change of only three degrees, but three degrees over hundreds of miles would be significant.
Minutes later the original captain finds himself at the rear of a shifting column. Picking up speed he passes the others and honks has my wife been telling stories again?
... and on it goes. I wonder, do the geese ever end up where they planned?
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