I went for a leisurely stroll around the Lake at lunchtime today. It probably wasn’t, but it must have been a hundred degrees. I was sweltered, and was beginning to think that it may have been a bad idea to go walking, as I could feel my face start to burn. I could actually hear – and feel – it sizzle.
I then noticed this chap, who most definitely had the right idea:
Wading in those cool waters, fishing without a care in the world; least of all the heat. I then noticed that he had his eye on something. Was I going to actually see the grand fisherman at work? There are some huge fish in this Lake. Lucky for me I had my trusty mobile phone primed and ready to go, to grab the money shot as it were.
There wasn’t a fish.
At first I thought nothing of it, and then I thought: an intruder!
A goose and a heron staring at each other, mere metres apart:
I didn’t want to see a fight, but kept my mobile phone handy just in case, as you do. It’s shocking how we feel the urge to photograph certain things… but I thought this is nature at her finest. Wild birds, literally a reach away from me, ready to have a territorial spat.
Do geese and herons spat? I watched on.
Suddenly, the goose turned away. It either thought the heron was no threat so decided to leave it alone, or that the heron was a threat, and decided to leave it alone. I share an amazing psychic link with birds and know exactly what they’re thinking. The heron, however, kept its calm composure:
I then realised I was wrong.
The goose had simply called in the cavalry:
The gaggle of geese (are geese collectively called a gaggle when in the water?) came rapidly out of nowhere (well, the side of the Lake). I’m positive the one at the front was honking some kind of battle cry, and I could see them swimming in a collective rhythmic fashion, left flipper, right flipper, left flipper, right flipper and so on.
The leader stopped honking.
In unison, the geese turned their heads away from me:
I thought that they didn’t want to be photographed, but then they all looked toward me at the same time. Then away from me. Than back towards me again. Unfortunately, I forgot to take photos of this particular sequence.
They broke formation, and I suddenly remembered I had my mobile phone:
And then, without a moment’s hesitation, they all swam by. Quickly and silently.
And under the supervision of a very relaxed fisherman indeed.
It was probably too warm for anything else anyway.
How was your Friday?
The Mansionic Perspective 
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