"Follow my leader"

I stood watching these geese yesterday afternoon, as they trotted - do geese trot?, I know ducks waddle, but what is the gait of geese called?... still I digress - they were coming along the path towards me with a very purposeful look about them, so I got my camera out and waited to see what they did.













They seemed to be almost playing "follow the leader", as the whole while they stayed in formation, one behind the other, right across to the other side of the wide lake. Not one of them made any attempt to change position, nor to break the straight line.
Was it that only the one in front knew where they were going?!, or was there some deeper purpose behind their behaviour I wondered. Either way, it was amusing and entertaining to watch.