We heard them yesterday and the day before but could not see any so they must have been hidden by the landscape. Today we were just resting with a cup of tea in the pergola when we heard them again. This time one quite large squadron in the usual echelon formation appeared for a few minutes and then they were away heading South West from here in central France.
   As they seemed early this year my wife checked her five-year diary and found an entry for gruesome in mid-October 2018. That year we had snow on the 30th October which fortunately only lasted for a day before thawing. Could this be repeated this year?

None over 47 yet.  Can't get enthusiastic about them going south. They're usually horribly accurate at forecasting nasty weather. Much more so than the météos     To see them coming back in spring, though, that's wonderful!