Five Canada Geese in a snow storm, Salt Lake County, UtahFive Canada Geese in a snow storm – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/3200, ISO 1000, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light

We had a whopper of a snow storm yesterday where I live in Salt Lake County, the ground was white when I woke up and the snow continued to fall for most of the day. With this winter having been very mild it was nice to see a healthy snowfall although it did cause havoc on the roads, by 3:30 pm the Utah Department of Public Safety reported 458 crashes just along the Wasatch front. It wasn’t a good day to be out on the roads.

I stuck close to home but did go down to the local pond for a few minutes, the snow was falling heavily and even though the light was awful I did take a few photos simply because I love photographing birds in falling snow.

When some Canada Geese started swimming towards me I took a burst of photos hoping to get a at least one image where snow wasn’t blocking the view of the eye of the goose in the front. My auto focus struggled to maintain focus in the conditions and I only found the quality of this one image acceptable but I am glad I took it. The lead goose seems to be listing to its right side and I wondered if that was due to the layer of snow on its back. The birds that stick around northern Utah in the winter are a hardy bunch.

Snow on my Jeep on February 19, 2018 at 8:48 am Snow on my Jeep on February 19, 2018 at 8:48 am – Samsung Galaxy s7 Edge, f1.7, 1/548, ISO 50, 4mm

This might not seem like a bird photo but there is actually one bird clinging to my bird feeders, a Lesser Goldfinch trying to eat during the storm. The bird feeders are above the windshield of my Jeep towards the left side of the frame and to the right of the tree seen there. More snow fell after this photo was taken.

I’ve looked outside and although it is still dark I can see that more snow fell overnight because the road is covered again and when I went to bed last night the road was pretty much clear plus I can see more snow on top of my Jeep. We needed this snow and I hope we get a few more of these storms to dump more snow on us before spring arrives to add to our snow pack in the mountains.

Life is good.

Mia

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