Barnacle Geese

This is just a small part of a colossal flock of wild Barnacle geese which flew over our heads near Ballitarsin while out cycling this morning. We have around 45,000 of this species of goose spending the winter on Islay, plus around 7,000 Greenland White-fronts plus another 3-4,000 Greylags.
The winter birdwatching here is some of the most spectacular in NW Europe, and hundreds of people visit the island to witness it. Not as many as come to see the whisky distilleries - but still a lot....