A rustic luxury holiday lodge offers all the ingredients for a relaxing countryside retreat, where the magical elements of nature swirl around you throughout the seasons.
Read this insightful blog that has been written by one of our bespoke lodge owners at Maes Mynan Park, where he describes, with humour, the gliding, grazing and growing of the Greylag goslings on Maes Mynan Lake.
Except for the warmest June on record, the summer of 2023 has been cool, wet and windy. However, despite this, throughout Spring and Summer, birdlife activity on Maes Mynan Lake has been wonderful.
In early May broods of Tufted Ducks, Coots, Mallards and Geese appeared in front of our holiday lodge, gliding in numbers across the lake. It was difficult to count the true numbers of tiny dots scurrying across and ducking under the lake surface.
Sadly there was a high predation rate by buzzards, but I didn’t see any incidents, so I prefer to retain the image of these regal birds soaring majestically above, keeping watch, rather than anything else!
Canada Geese were the most numerous visitors this year to Maes Mynan Park, but the stars of the show were the Greylag Geese.
The ever present and attentive parents stood guard protecting the six Greylag goslings, ensuring not a single loss. I felt privileged to watch the growth and development of an amazing, cohesive family unit. For four months they made daily appearances gliding serenely across the lake with no visible means of propulsion, grazing on the grassy bank in front of us as we sat on the deck of our lodge. The goslings, over twelve weeks, grew to the size of their parents. On lake or land they moved as one family unit, never more than twenty meters apart, the parents alert and standing guard.
In the early mornings, they came up off the lake to breakfast directly in front of our lodge, but any potential threat would send them scurrying silently back down to the lake. It would have been a comical sight watching me creep slowly to the patio doors with glass of orange juice in hand to watch them, aware that a sudden movement or noisy step could disturb the serenity of the moment.
June was their month of growing. They would come to graze several times a day and with no obvious communication, they turned and waddled back to glide across the lake as one unit, often in a line astern with parents on guard duty front and back.
July started with strengthening and skills exercises. On one occasion, running uphill in line abreast formation like aircraft on “taxiing trials” with flapping wings searching for the power that would get them off the ground. That was followed by “hang glider training”, again in line abreast but running downhill with wings outstretched looking for the lift that would take them out across the lake. A couple made more than ten meters, others just one or two, and one, perhaps more cautious and less committed, just kept on running into the water.
In early August, I was rewarded by seeing the first public display of the “Gray Arrows”. They made a low pass over Maes Mynan Lake, then turned to land in their signature Arrow formation. One parent leading, three youngsters on either side, in perfect echelon formation. The other parent behind and central, keeping an eye on progress.
These aerobatic displays were not silent, as they announced themselves to spectators, with commands being squawked from the Squadron Leader and Tail End Charlie:- “Move in closer number two right”, “Keep up three left”, “Flaps down”, “Start 180 left”, “Splash down in 10”, “Water breaks on”, “Glide to shore”.
By mid-August, they were gone, migrating south. Where will they winter? Will they be back next year? Will sibling rivalry, or necessity to find new partners, break up the family? I counted them all out and will count them back in next spring.
It was a wonderful experience to witness and I can’t wait for Spring to arrive again!
Maes Mynan Park is an absolute haven for countryside lovers, who love to sit and walk in stunning countryside, where space, floral, trees, birds and wildlife all create their own ecosystem of biodiversity in an otherwise chaotic World. We haven’t looked back since buying our bespoke lodge – we love it all!
Imagine watching Greylag Geese, their goslings and other waterfowl on Maes Mynan Lake, all from the comfort of your very own luxury holiday lodge.
Here at Maes Mynan Park, we offer a range of holiday homes for sale, as well as luxury bespoke lodges for sale. The lodge holiday homes are located overlooking two of our lakes at Maes Mynan Park.
If a quiet rural escape is what you seek for your holiday haven, then book a tour. Visit and experience the magical setting of a country retreat surrounded by nature, wildlife, birdlife, flora and fauna and woodland.
You can contact us on info@nullacornleisure.com or via our Contact Page here.
