Skeins of pink-footed Geese.

Nidderdale Moorland Group

The signs of spring arriving are now all around us and, as the daylight continues to increase, more of our summer residents are beginning to not only arrive back in the dale, but also announce their arrival with joyful songs.

But it is also the time of year we start to say goodbye to some of our winter residents as they begin their journeys back to their summer breeding grounds.

One of our moorland gamekeepers spotted these skeins of Pink-footed Geese as they passed through the dale last weekend on their way north to Iceland and Greenland.

Migration is a difficult, perilous journey as birds travel between their breeding and non-breeding grounds.

There are many reasons which drive birds to migrate, but the main factor is survival.

Longer hours of day light to raise their families alongside habitat, food supply and safety from predators attracts Pink-footed geese to areas such as Iceland and Greenland to breed, but they still need to move south to milder climates for the winter and we usually see the first autumn arrivals around September.

Their journey north to the breeding grounds generally starts in February.

Turn up the volume to listen to their high pitch calls as they pass overhead.