These pictures were taken on the same day as my other post on snow geese. It was a dark, windy, dreary day. I felt fortunate though to see them in flight.
I saw them arrive to the park from a distance. I walked closer to where they landed. After a while smaller groups among them took flight again above the park. It was like they were exercising, or possibly getting ready for another long flight.
They did several circles around the park before they landed again. Lucky for me they flew overhead.
A white morph- notice the dark wing tipsA blue morph from the rear, coming in for a landingI was lucky to have overhead flights and fly-bys ahead of me.Fly by.
Flaps down, floating in for a landing.
Not sure how they avoid landing on another bird from the flock. Add into the conditions that it was a very windy day and it seems like a difficult task.
Despite the weather and dark skies, great things can be seen! Walking outside is a great stress reliever. Seeing wildlife makes it more so.
I went to a park that straddled two states to catch these. Two attempts after work did not yield results. The third attempt on a weekend was the charm. Warning: it was a dreary day, so the images are dark and not sharp as a result.
I saw them approach the park in a large group from a distance. I guesstimate the group was around a few hundred. I walked towards where they were. They slowly drifted towards my location. It helped few people were there.
When they arrived the swans were at the end of the water body closest to me. When the swans wanted to get to the other side, the snow geese gave them a wide path. I don’t know if that is respect or fear. What do you think?
This one was tagged around the neck.
Most were white morphs. According to All About Birds white morphs have black wingtips and a pink bill with a black grin patch.
One of these things is not like the others. I t appears to be a blue morph snow goose.
According to All about Birds blue morph snow geese have a white head and a dark body. The are the same size and shape as the white morph snow geese as well as the same pink bill with a black grin.
There was some loud communication between the snow geese.
I wish Google Translate had snow geese as an option. It would be interesting to know what they were saying amongst themselves.
They were here evidently a couple of weeks before I caught them. I have heard from multiple people this is unusual. There may have been a thousand or more at one point. At this location is is down to a couple hundred or less now. They do not usually come to this area in these numbers. I think our mild weather made this area and its ice free waters attractive as a long term stop.
Get out and enjoy nature! Even when the weather is not optimal. You may get to see something you have have before.
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