A huge group of geese have been captured taking over the grounds of Queen Margaret University near Musselburgh in the outskirts of Edinburgh.
The spectacular images show around 135 Canadian Geese surrounding the university.
Allan Brown of the Lothians and Fife Swan and Goose Study Group explained to Edinburgh Live that the large gaggle were likely stopping off at the university for a break before continuing their trip to England.
He explained: “The Canada Goose is an introduced species in the Lothians which were released at various locations, especially during the 1960s, for shooting purposes and have expanded their breeding range in recent years.
“Like swans, non-breeding geese gather together in flocks to moult and such gatherings can occur in parts of SE Scotland.
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‘However, within Britain, a moult migration was established with birds from England (especially south Yorkshire) moving to the Beauly Firth to moult in May/June before returning in August/September.
“It is very likely that the birds seen at QMU were part of this moult migration, the birds stopping off on their way back south.
“Some local birds may mix with these flocks and some of them may remain in the area for winter.
“Numbers can vary considerably between years depending upon where the birds decide to stop on their movements north and south.
“Musselburgh can have quite a large number (100+) of wintering birds as can Duddingston Loch.”
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Allan told Edinburgh Live how he had never seen quite so many geese in the Lothians at the same time, adding: “I counted about 135, they all appeared to be adult birds."
