The Lost Geese

I suppose it was inevitable for a bank holiday monday in May - a wild northeasterly gale and heavy rain. The rain eased off in mid afternoon so I took the dog up to Churchtown for a brisk stroll in the brisk weather. The louring grey skies made it seem quite autumnal, and all of a sudden it sounded autumnal as well as two canada geese flew over, struggling to make headway against the wind but progressing fitfully in a northerly direction.

What were they doing over south east Cornwall at the end of May? One of them very clearly had a wide featherless gap in one wing, so perhaps they had been delayed by injury and are only just now able to obey the northward breeding imperative.