Anja Murray: Listen out for the 'sonic chain' of calls as brent geese fly overhead

Right now these gorgeous birds are trying to eat enough to sustain themselves for a trip back to the Arctic soon — so it's vital to make sure people or dogs don't disturb them

Brent geese fly all the way to Ireland from Arctic Canada each autumn — 3,000 miles over the ocean

The other night, at 5am, I woke to the sound of geese honking loudly overhead. Living by the coast for these few weeks, there seems to be no end to the discoveries on offer. These nocturnal fliers are crossing over the expanse of costal machair below the cluster of houses, heading toward the saltmarsh where wet boggy ground reaches sea level and merges with the intertidal muds.

There the peaty stream from the lake above meanders its way in a hundred soggy rivulets toward the sea. Platforms of saltmarsh species rise above the mud in their own unknowable patterns. Each are topped with succulent samphire, sea purslane and sea aster — fleshy plants that have evolved to tolerate such saline conditions. Below the saltmarsh, still sheltered from the open sea and its salty waves, slow-moving tides shape fine muds that are filled with life.