Birds

[Ian]

Snow geese McNary Wildlife Refuge

[d k]

Cool shot!

[Ian]

Thanks.  They bounce around here quite a bit before they continue their migration.  I gather they will hang out here at night and then fly out in the morning to nearby feeding grounds.  This was really early in the morning so I had to push the ISO quite a bit.  I know of one field they feed in.  I’ll drive down there later this week and see if I can catch them in better light.

[BlackHatGuy]

Yes, a cool shot. They looked so packed tightly together, it’s a wonder they don’t all crash into each other,

[DAN-Y]

Emiquon National Wildlife Refuge in Illinois, snow geese migration

Pelicans at Emiquon

[W I S N E R !]

Cool shot Ian.

[Jerry Adams]

nice pics both of you

I see geese out my window.  I’ll have to try to get a shot.  Cool watching them day to day.

[Ian]

Thanks all.

Nice photos Dan.

If you’ve never seen them IRL, the racket they make is comical.  I can’t see the slough from the parking lot but as soon as I stepped out of my vehicle, “yup… they’re here.”  You can hear them from miles away.

Soft light = soft images.  That’s why I only kept this shot from over 100.  It’s far enough away that sharp detail isn’t critical.  Optimally if there was better lighting I would’ve stopped down more to have more depth of field, but the sun was just rising and I needed all the light I could gather.

Sun is supposed to cut through the clouds today at noon.  I hope to drive to another refuge in Oregon this afternoon with the hopes of finding them at one of their feeding grounds.

 

[Jerry Adams]

” the racket they make is comical”

yeah

or maybe cacophony : )

[Ian]

Perhaps a ruckus

[Jerry Adams]

internet synonym generator

[Ian]

Make sure the sound is on

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CKFmkogHo67/?igshid=bsz0g1lw3yfd

[BlackHatGuy]

Neat!

[Kelly C]

Packed tight like this they do crash into each other.  Predators will run after large groups of snow geese that have landed and in their panic to take off the geese collide.  It’s not uncommon for a goose or two to suffer a broken wing in the melee and become an easy meal.

[Ian]

That’s not hard to imagine Kelly.  I had been sitting in the blind for over a half hour before this shot, so it wasn’t like they were spooked, or at least spooked by me.  It seems like their MO when taking off for the feeding grounds for the day is to raise holy hell and chaos as they depart the slough.

[Author]

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