Immature Snow Goose calling in flight, Salt Lake County, UtahImmature Snow Goose calling in flight – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/800, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light

On December 26th, 2017 I found a single immature Snow Goose at my local pond that was too far away from me to take high quality images.  I did take some long distance photos of the young goose as it lifted off from the pond and my hope was that the Snow Goose would come back to so I’ve been keeping an eye out for a white goose every trip I have made down to the local pond since then, yesterday that paid off.

Immature Snow Goose in low light, Salt Lake County, UtahImmature Snow Goose in low light – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/800, ISO 640, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light

I can’t be certain this is the same goose that I saw on December 26th but I found an immature Snow Goose feeding with some Canada Geese in the grass across the pond.

The goose was too far away at that point to take anything but documentary images. I was excited by the presence of the young Snow Goose and hoped it would come closer and eventually it did. A fisherman walked close to where the Canada Geese and the Snow Goose were feeding and that caused all of them to move out onto the water. As the Snow Goose came closer I cursed the clouds a bit because I wanted better light on the bird. Still a Snow Goose in low light is better than no Snow Goose at all.

Immature Snow Goose in afternoon light, Salt Lake County, UtahImmature Snow Goose in afternoon light – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/2500, ISO 640, -0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light

The sun did peek through the clouds eventually and I was able to take photos of the immature Snow Goose in better light. I was over the moon, it had been a long time since I had a Snow Goose in my viewfinder this close.

Immature Snow Goose in a hole in the bank, Salt Lake County, UtahImmature Snow Goose in a hole in the bank – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/640, ISO 640, -0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light

While some of the Canada Geese were squabbling I saw the immature Snow Goose swim close to the shore and then saw I the goose stick its head up from a hole in the bank. Not a perfect photo, but I like it.

The Snow Goose did climb the bank of the pond and I was able to take a few quick photos of it before the squabbling Canada Geese seemed to startle the young goose and it moved back out onto the pond…

Immature Snow Goose taking a drink, Salt Lake County, UtahImmature Snow Goose taking a drink – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/3200, ISO 640, -0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light

Which was fortunate because the immature Snow Goose lazily drifted on the water in front of me in good light. It sipped water from the pond…

Immature Snow Goose in Salt Lake County, UtahImmature Snow Goose in Salt Lake County – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/3200, ISO 640, -0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light

Looked around a lot…

Preening immature Snow Goose, Salt Lake County, UtahPreening immature Snow Goose – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/2000, ISO 400, -0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light

And to my delight the immature goose preened right in front of me for a bit before it moved further away.

This young Snow Goose took off with a flock of Canada Geese later on and while I did get sharp photos of it in flight they were ruined, in my opinion, by the bright siding of the houses behind the goose as it flew by.

Oh well, maybe this immature Snow Goose will hang around and I will have another opportunity to photograph it.

Life is good.

Mia

Click here to see more of my Snow Goose photos plus facts and information about this species.