The geese are back, three weeks early

They arrive from Iceland, they come in low over the saltings on the last of the light, and the noise is not what people expect — less honking than a sort of continuous creaking, like a rope under load.

Best watched from the boardwalk behind the church, about forty minutes before sunset. Take the binoculars from Marsh; that is what they are for. Wear more than you think.

They will be here until March. The single best hour of the whole year is a still evening in the last week of October, and we have four rooms.