This morning, I’m writing about more “snow”—but not the fluffy, melty kind. Nope, it’s the live, honking, feathered kind. By that, I mean beautiful Snow Geese.
Snow Geese in a corn field at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge – Canon R7, handheld, f8, 1/3200, ISO 800, Canon EF 100-400mm II at 400mm, natural light
Two days ago, while I was at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, I had hoped to video the Snow Geese lifting off from the Arkansas River at dawn with my new cell phone. I could hear some of the geese in the distance, but they didn’t fly by the hundreds from the river to the fields that morning.
Later in the morning, only a handful of Snow Geese were feeding in the cornfields not far from the river. Naturally, I wanted to photograph them. The geese are beautiful and amazing.
Dark morph Snow Goose in a corn field – Canon R7, handheld, f8, 1/3200, ISO 800, Canon EF 100-400mm II at 400mm, natural light
Snow Geese breed far north of Oklahoma, in the tundra of the Arctic regions of North America and Siberia. Their journey is truly amazing—they fly incredible distances to reach their wintering grounds and then, come spring, travel all the way back to their breeding grounds—a cycle of life they have followed for eons.
The goose in the photo above is a dark morph Snow Goose, also known as a blue morph or Blue Goose. It has a piece of corn husk stuck to its neck feathers. It is fine—the corn husk didn’t go all the way around its neck.
I hope I get a chance to video the Snow Geese lifting off from the Arkansas River soon. The geese will be leaving on their spring migration before too long.
Life is good.
Mia
Click here to see more of my Snow Goose photos plus facts and information about this species.
Cool pics. I can’t wait for the lift-off shots you’ll get. Snow geese sure are beautiful. Thanks Mia.
Beautiful, I love the blue morph!
I feel fortunate to see them often. In the Sacramento valley
I hope you can capture that take off too – and thank you for reassuring me about the dark morph and the corn husk.