@Bjay these are not just ordinary Flying Geese ... these are Marks and Sparks flying geese ...
I agree with you, they are a lil bugger to get right and in fact I got them wrong so often I decided I preferred them that way and changed the pattern!!
Double in fact ... the woman who designed this pattern changed them to standard flying geese in the end as, I assume, so many other people found it too difficult/complained ... but if you ensure theres a 1/4" gap between the edge of the unfinished block and the 'geese' you get a great shimmery effect and that is precisely what we want!