The Authentic End of Summer

Never mind changing the clocks this weekend, never mind the calendar, never mind Lammastide or whatever, the real end of summer has been marked by the cranes flying south. Friends saw the first group fly over on Tuesday and today we saw the second group (skein?) fly over just before lunch. They arrived in "V" formation then broke up while they took advantage of a thermal to gain height probably sufficient to get them over the Pyrenees.They then formed up again and headed Southwest into the clear blue sky for the coast of Spain. It seems that they arrive in two groups, possibly from separate departure areas? Naturally we had to crane our necks to see them go. (Sorry!)

Despite the thermometer on the door reading over 40 and the temperature in the shade outside being 20, those birds seem to be reliable. When they came over a year ago, a particularly hard frost hit a few days later. Let's see how accurate they are this year. 

They should be back in March.