I’m listening to the geese in the fields, honking away right now. The fields must be quite the attraction! I’ve been watching their behavior, and find that interesting. This time, there is no one large flock, but several smaller ones scattered over the fields. I watched as several “families” (I’m assuming they’re related as I think geese do mate for life, and the flocks that flew over were 6, 7, 10 or so geese each – Mom, Dad and the latest set of kids) flew over, circling the fields a couple times and then landing in an open area. If there was another family already on the ground nearby, a couple of them would get aggressive and run at the newly landed group, necks extended guarding their “territory” from the invaders. Eventually, all would settle down, but there was always one or two geese not feeding – keeping watch over the rest of the family. They stand watch with necks extended, and heads held high alert and aware of their surroundings while the rest of them feed. A quick glance with the binoculars, and I’m seeing about 10-15 families each with 7 – 10 geese in each group, so there’s about 100 or so geese down there right now. This changes as some will take off while others land. Spring is a coming folks :0). No more snow!! (There, I put in my order for the rest of the season).
WooHoo – I spotted a snow goose among the geese. It’s an intergrade between the full white and the gray phases, according to the book. I’m also looking for any bands – but I can’t see their feet well with my binoc’s – so may be missing some. It is SO pretty!!
Yup – two of them – one intergrade ( could be an immature??) and one all white. It’s getting dark out, so I missed the all white in the first view, but when I went back to look at it again, I saw the all white one too.
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