Geese make flying visit

Dec 19 2008 by Alison Lowson, Perthshire Advertiser Friday

A LOUD, continuous babble makes it sound as if there’s an enormous party going on in the next room.

It’s only half light as we approach cautiously and hear the volume increase. As our eyes make out the scene, we see a moving mass of creatures paddling in a shallow pond – hundreds of pink-footed geese.

Suddenly, there’s a great uproar and the sky darkens as what looks like a swarm of bees surges past. When the swarm circles closer we see that it’s actually hundreds, no thousands more geese. They fly as one great, pulsing wave of birdlife, sweeping back and forth against the indigo sky, until some communal decision is made and they all land like a fall of grey snow on a neighbouring field.

This is what we’d hoped to see on our Dawn Goose Watch – the awe-inspiring spectacle of Loch Leven’s winter visitors stirring themselves for another day’s feeding. But we hadn’t banked on the cacophony of sound that accompanied the sight.

From the shelter of a hide, we train binoculars and telescopes on the geese and gradually make out some of their social organisation. Chris Rodger, RSPB Vane Farm’s Warden, points out that the crowd of geese is composed of family groups, each with two adults and two or more smaller youngsters. These families stick closely together amid the milling throng. And, as he explains, we see that the families belong to “clans”, larger sets of geese that try to maintain their position within the wider crowd, pecking at and squabbling with birds that intrude on their space. They seem remarkably like humans!

As the light grows, the more experienced birdwatchers point out other species that can be seen. There are dozens of lapwing and curlew and lots of ducks of different kinds: teal, widgeon, tufted duck and pintail. There is even a pair of black and white barnacle geese, unsuccessfully trying to camouflage themselves among the grey pink-footed geese.

A heron that has been feeding on the edge of Loch Leven takes off and flies low along the shoreline, causing chaos. The geese mistake the big, broad wings for those of a bird of prey and take off in a cloud of noisy wing beats. They have reason to be fearful – some of the juvenile white-tailed sea eagles released not far away in Fife have been seen over the reserve. A goose makes a good breakfast for a sea eagle.

The event was organised for RSPB’s Farm Alliance, just one of many events at Loch Leven National Nature Reserve.

The Farm Alliance brings together the RSPB, farmers (including Brig Farm at Bridge of Earn) and volunteer bird watchers to survey the species present on a farm, so that farmers learn more about the wildlife that their farms support and how they can improve the habitat to help those birds.

Later, I decided to explore the nature trail up the wooded hill behind the visitor centre to enjoy a panoramic view from the high point on Vane Hill. And, you never know, I might see a peregrine falcon or sparrowhawk hunting over the slopes.

It’s a steep climb, but proved worth it for the birds-eye view of Loch Leven. The whole loch is visible, rimmed by the escarpments of the Ochils, Bishop Hill and Benarty Hill, looking as if they are trying to contain the water and stop it leaking away. Below lies St Serf’s Island, by far the largest in the loch, and the dappled wetlands of RSPB Vane Farm Reserve, each pool mirroring the light.

From my eerie, I see the route the Loch Leven Heritage Trail takes, running from Vane Farm to cross the deep Loch Leven Cut into Levenmouth Wood then snaking up the east shore and around the far side to Kinross. I made a mental note to catch the bus from Kinross to Vane Farm one day (Wednesdays or Saturdays only) then walk the whole trail back to Kinross in one go.

A winter visit to the visitor centre – when a large proportion of the global population of pink-footed geese drops into Loch Leven – is a special way of enjoying the marvels of nature.

More information at www.rspb.org.uk/vanefarm. The visitor centre is open seven days a week, tel. 01577 862255. Entry is free for members of the RSPB; non-member entry is £3 adult, 50p child. The tearoom opens from 10am to 4pm.

See www.snh.org.uk or contact the SNH office at the Pier, Kinross on 01577 864439.