Geese, Swans, Pelicans, and Cormorants: Part I

The next few posts will cover geese, swans, pelicans, and cormorants. First up, Geese:

Brant over the Puget Sound in Washington

Canada Goose on Lake Washington, Washington

Canada Goose Nesting in British Columbia

Canada Goose on Campbell Lake, British Columbia

Ross's Goose at Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge, Washington

Snow Goose at Bosque del Apache, New Mexico

Snow Goose on Fir Island, Washington (Mount Baker in Background)

Snow Goose in Arizona

White-fronted Goose with Tundra Swans on Tule Lake, Northern California

White-fronted Goose with Snow Goose, Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon

White-fronted Goose in Arizona

White-fronted Goose, again Arizona

Favorite Wildlife Photos from 2018 - XXII

Continuing with my favorite Wildlife Photos from 2018 is a Snow Goose. Usually Snow Geese summer in the Arctic Circle or Siberia and winter along the Gulf of California or Gulf of Mexico. Fir Island in Washington state would get 10-12,000 during the winter. Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge would get high numbers wintering there as well.

In Arizona we often get 50-60 wintering at Whitewater Draw. However, this past year one lone Snow Goose stayed at Lakeside Park in Tucson all year long providing lots of photo opportunities.

Snow Goose

Winter Wildlife Photos: Snow Goose

Continuing my series on Winter Wildlife we come to the Snow Goose. We find Snow Geese occasionally here in Arizona. In fact, there has been a single Snow Goose at Lakeside Park for the past 10 months. But, Snow Geese winter in huge numbers in Washington State after spending the Summer in Siberia. Here, some of the 10,000-15,000 Snow Geese on Fir Island with Mount Baker in the background:

Lakeside Park: Snow Goose

Lakeside Park gets some rarities frequently. Among them Brown Pelican, Common Tern, Elegant Tern, Forster's Tern, White Fronted Goose, and for the past couple of months a single Snow Goose. Today he was feeding in the grass around the lake.

White Fronted Goose and Snow Goose

I had an 8:30 breakfast this morning, but decided I could make a quick trip to Lakeside Park (about 20 minutes from us) at 6:00 am and be back in time to fix breakfast. 

I was rewarded with both a White Fronted Goose and a Snow Goose. (There was a Great Blue Heron and Black Crowned Night Heron as well, though I focused primarily on the geese.

Here they are in order of appearance:

Great Blue Heron

Black Crowned Night Heron

I didn't see the geese immediately, and then voila, they flew right down in front of me:

Snow Goose

Snow Goose

Snow Goose

White Fronted Goose

Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge

Note: We would like to welcome Reunion as the 137th country/territory to visit our Blog. Actually part of France, Reunion is east of Madagascar off the eastern coast of Africa. 

Christine and I took guests to Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge yesterday. We walked the 1 mile loop around Grebe Pond. And while Aguirre Lake was dry, Grebe Pond provided some very nice birding opportunities.  

Lots of sparrows and yellow rumped warblers; with a small contingent of ducks and one great egret. But the highlights for the day were a single Snow Goose, a pair of Long Billed Curlews, and a pair of Prairie Merlins.

Oh, and a couple of young White Tailed Deer. Here are my favorite photos of the day:

Long Billed Curlew

Prairie Merline

Snow Goose

White Tailed Deer

Lake Cochise: final winter stop??

On to Lake Cochise. Again, lots of Northern Shovelers and Mallards, but very few shorebirds. However, the two nice finds were 1) a pair of Buffleheads, and 2) eight Snow Geese. The Snow Geese were very close so I got some nice photos. Here are a couple of the Snow Geese and one of the Bufflehead:

Snow Goose

Snow Geese

Bufflehead

National Wildlife Refuges

Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge,Washington, 1974

Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge is located where the freshwater of the Nisqually River meets the saltwater of south Puget Sound, creating the Nisqually River Delta. The delta is a biologically-rich and diverse area that supports a variety of habitats including the estuary, freshwater wetlands and riparian woodlands. It is considered the last unspoiled major estuary in Puget Sound. The Nisqually Delta has been designated as a National Natural Landmark because of its national significance as one of the best examples of this kind of coastal salt marsh system remaining in the North Pacific.

Nisqually Refuge is famous for the more than 275 migratory bird species that use the refuge for migration, wintering, or breeding. The refuge provides rearing and migration habitat for steelhead trout and several salmon species, and habitat for a variety of threatened and endangered species. The Black River Unit, southwest of Olympia, provides high quality habitat for Coho and Chinook salmon, steelhead trout, migratory birds, and a diversity of other species.

Much of the refuge is accessible only by boat. From the visitors center there is a 5 mile trail through the woodland and riparian areas.

On an interesting historical note: In 1833, the Hudson's Bay Company established a trading post and farm in the Nisqually River delta. Soon, European-Americans began to settle in the area. By 1839, a major part of the econmy began to shift from fur trading to farming and sheep grazing. The refuge is the site of the signing of the first Indian treaty in Washington Territory, in December 1854, at a grove along the east bank of McAllister Creek now known as the Treaty Trees. The treaty reserved certain fishing, hunting, and gathering rights for the tribes. Members of the Nisqually Tribe still exercise these rights, fishing for salmon in refuge waters.

About 50 miles from Seattle, Christine and I went there frequently during the mid and late 80's to hike and see wildlife. It wasn't until 1990 when I decided it was time to buy a camera that I started taking photos, though. Here are a few photos from the early 90's:

Blue Goose

Canada Goose

Canada Goose with Great Blue Heron

Canada Geese with Snow Goose

Snow Geese

More from Whitewater Draw

In addition to the several thousand Sandhill Cranes at Whitewater Draw are a hundred or so Snow Geese. Snow Geese spend their summers in the Arctic Circle, where they nest in colonies. They typically winter along the shores of the Gulf of California and Gulf of Mexico. Therefore, their migrations are quite long -- 4000 miles or more. There are a few exceptions. Bosque de Apache in New Mexico and Whitewater Draw in Arizona have small wintering populations. In the first photo you will see 50 or so flying above several thousand Sandhill Cranes. The second photo is a close up of five Snow Geese in flight.

A few other surprises at Whitewater Draw this time. First, a Willet, and then a Green Winged Teal. Willets are year round residents along the Atlantic coast. In the West, they winter along the Pacific Coast and then move inland during the summer to the Northwest Interior. They are relatively rare to the other parts of the Country. But, again Whitewater Draw seems to "draw" waterbirds that otherwise --- in Arizona -- would be hard pressed to find water.  The Green Winged Teal is found throughout the US during the winter, with summers in Canada. There are parts of the Northwestern US where the Green Winged Teal is a year round resident. It is the smallest of the dabbling ducks, and as the photo shows dabbles its bill along the shallow muddy areas of ponds or lakes. 

Geese

On to Geese. I was going to start with the Brant Goose found along the Pacific Coast. I had many nice photos taken in the Puget Sound in Washington. They were some of my first photos when I was using a Minolta APS cartridge system. I must not have scanned them into iPhoto and don't have them anymore. Oh well. So, first up the most common of all geese, the Canada Goose abundantly found throughout North America (except Southern Arizona and Southern Florida. Then Ross's Goose, Snow Goose, and White Fronted Goose all of which migrate from the Atlantic, Pacific, and Gulf coasts to the Arctic in the summer. Geese are herbivores although they sometimes eat small insects and fish. 

Canada Goose

photo taken at Campbell Lake, British Columbia

Ross Goose

photo taken at Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge, Oregon

Snow Goose (both light and dark forms)

photo taken at Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge, Washington

Snow Goose

photo taken on Fir Island, Washington

Snow and White Fronted Goose

photo taken at Tule Lake, California