Early morning/late evening serenade

There are many sounds that occur throughout any 24 period, some you can count on at certain times of the day.

First thing in the morning one of the things that happens in this household is that the bird feeders must be put outside. This usually happens at the same time as the dogs' first exit to the yard and pasture.

If it's just at dawn, or shortly after, the honking of geese is easily heard along the river. Our home is only about a mile away as the crow flies so the sound is often hollow as if in a tunnel. In fact it might well be actually tunnel-like on the river since its banks are lined with trees in this section, their roots deep in the mud below the water line. The river is probably 50 feet wide at this point. Maybe more. And it winds and twists its way moving sluggishly unless there has been a big melt or huge storm.

But the call of geese as they land on or leave the river rings out across the landscape. Usually it's only two or three at the most. During migration, one honker can get a huge flock going - and that's a cacophony.

It's the same in the evening. Usually the dogs and I have our last walk at sunset or I'm working in the garden and they're impatiently waiting for their last walk, when the sounds of geese rise as they land for an evening meal in the farmer's fields or along the river to graze underwater.

It's a comforting sound somehow - geese honking. It happens at all times of the day as they move from place to place, but for me, the most memorable times, the ones that make me stop and look for them, signal dawn or dusk... my favourite times of the day.

Interesting isn't it, how we relate sound to certain things such as the time of day or a special activity. Just one of life's fascinating bits of trivia of which I've been aware lately.

Hope you have a song-filled day.