Icily beautiful on the river this morning, though no ice yet. Sharp cold wind, sharp waves, sky cloudless, river blue. Ferry wakes rolling in, climbing seawall, falling back, criss-crossing incoming ones as they roll out. A giant cloud of Brant geese arrived the other day -- Urban Naturalist says he counted 190. They come down in a huge flock, hang around for a few days, then divide up into smaller flocks of 20-30 (family groups? I don't know) and spend the winter up and down the river. Up wherever it is they live it must be something to see, when the entire crowd takes off at once, circles to pick up stragglers, then rises high and heads south.