Grues

[Stinky]

Woohoo!
First flight of returning Grues half an hour ago down here in Correze.
Happy children calling and laughing in the darkness.
Back from wintering in North Africa.
Just love that noise.
They are better at predicting a spring to come than Michael Fish could ever hope to be.
Update.
They are still coming.
Flight after flight.
Hope to see them tomorrow.

[Blaze]

We used to love that sound where we lived before. They don't seem to fly over where we live now

[Char]

We had our first lot fly over the house today - p'raps they were the same ones you saw Stinky. They come up from the South and then rise on the thermals over our garden and turn North East and disappear from view. Spring won't be far away now.

[Spectrum]

Could be the ones that flew over ours about 1600, a lot of them perhaps a thousand, most I have seen together, with a strong "tail" wind they were overtaking jets

[MAD87]

Enfin! First group heard about an hour ago.

[Liz]

Heard over the Lot on Friday but sadly not by me

[Doug]

Was in Miramont this morning and had a huge surprise of a flock of grues flying over, going south, never have they gone south so early in the year.

[MAD87]

@Doug Funnily enough, I fancied I heard grues squawking one evening last week, but dismissed it as ...fanciful. 2 months in advance seems too much, but who knows?

[Doug]

@Doug Funnily enough, I fancied I heard grues squawking one evening last week, but dismissed it as ...fanciful. 2 months in advance seems too much, but who knows?

Thats what we thought but on reflection like a lot of things this year with the heat, perhaps lack of food or whatever, certainly very early thaugh.

[Blaze]

Sadly the grues never seem to fly over here.
Far more worrying though is the grippe aviaire which is ravaging bird colonies on islands off the French and the UK coasts. Particularly affected here are the gannets. Bird sanctuaries report devastating losses and if anyone sees dead seabird on the shore, they should not be touched but reported to the LPO.