Snow Geese

Snow Geese

Apr. 5, 2009

A good part of the fun in seeing snow geese at the Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area is the fact that you see them in the tens of thousands; however, the individual goose is beautiful in its own right, so here is a series of individual snow goose photos.

Here's a fellow with its wings down . . .

And then with wings up.

Did you note the difference of the additional gray touch to the upper wing (in the first photo)?

Next is a juvenile.

The juvenile's black is somewhat gray, and its white is also somewhat gray.

The challenge at Middle Creek is trying to photograph an individual goose; family groups are a more likely outcome (an adult flying in between two immatures).

Snow goose family, one adult and two immatures

Having photos taken at Middle Creek (about 3 hours away) is a bit of a sneak for my State College bird list. My justification is that snow geese have been seen in the area, although I've yet to see one here. (That means I'm bound to come across a beautiful snow goose in the Toftrees pond.)

Photo note: I used a Pentax K200D, with the SMC 1000mm reflex lens, on 25 February 2009, at Middle Creek, Pennsylvania.