Photo Study Of Snow Geese At Middle Creek WMA (Lebanon County, PA) On March 6th, 2010

    The inner loop at Middle Creek WMA opened on March 1st, so we decided to check it out. We expected to see Snow Geese but not in the numbers we found. We heard estimates
    of 50,000 to 100,000 geese there. I have no idea how many there were actually at Middle Creek, but the geese seemed to be everywhere...in the fields, in the open water, on the ice
    and there were huge flocks and formations of geese in the skies. They flew in; they flew out! The sight was awesome. I tried my best to photograph the occasion but these images
    can in no way capture the extravaganza. There were also reports of some Ross's Geese but I don't know how anyone could isolate and identify a Ross's in the middle of the tens of
    1000's of Snow Geese that were milling around at any one location.

Snow Geese Flying
 
Snow Goose In The Grass

Adult Dark Morph (Blue Goose) In The Water
 
Collared Snow Goose And Friends

    We saw at least six collared geese. I reported the collar numbers to the researchers at the University of Laval in Canada using their webform at:

    http://www.cen.ulaval.ca/gon-gsg/en_submit.aspx 
   
   The researchers will then tell you where and when the bird was collared, its age, its gender and how many times it has been reported.

The particular Snow Goose in the photo above, collar number 21CF,    was banded and collared as an adult female in August of 2009 at Īle-aux-oies, Quebec, Canada.

The Snow Goose (Chen caerulescens) is a medium-sized goose that breeds on the arctic tundra. In winter, the Snow Goose travels south in very large, high-flying, noisy flocks. The swirling white of a descending flock suggests snow, but among the white birds are darker individuals. Until recently, the Blue Geese, as the dark birds are called, were considered a separate species. They are now recognized as merely a dark form (or "morph") of the Snow Goose. (Cornell BNA)

Why Don't Snow Geese Bump Into Each Other?

Please click on either the thumbnails or the captions below to see a larger image...thanks!

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