Snowing Geese

Yesterday, on a nice Fall day with no leaves, or leaf-peepers, Penny the Vizsla, my friend Sally, and I drove over to Addison County to check on the migrating Snow Geese — which had been reported for the last week. The hazy sun was prompting raptors to hunt and we stopped a number of times to see Red-tails and a Northern Harrier or two hunt. It was slow going as we stopped, turned around, and checked out about a dozen hawks – but it was fun.

Arriving at the Goose Viewing Area on Route 17 in Addison, there were a few cars and looker but no geese visible in the air or on the fields. Our disappointment died after only five or ten minutes when a large white flock rose into the southerly wind, honking like crazy. I’m not good at counting but it was likely a thousand or more.  Here’s what they looked like:

After watching them swirl and gather, we drove over to Dead Creek where there were hundreds of Mallards and a different look at the geese.

Brylea Access Area, Dead Creek WMA. There are Snow Geese in the center of the sky but hardly visible.

Here is a short clip that I took of the geese flying. The wind noise tends to cancel out their calls but believe me, they were loud.

It was a nice trip and Sally’s first experience seeing Snow Geese. They are amazing birds and we wish them well on their journey south.