It's snowing geese!

I heard that large numbers of Snow Geese had been seen in some of the farm fields nearby, so this afternoon I hopped in the car and went goose hunting.  I hadn't gone more than 4 miles when I saw skeins of geese drifting down on a pond. This necessitated a sharp veer off the side of the road, as one does.  There were, by my best guess, several thousand of these beautiful geese drifting around on the pond, probably settling in after a day of eating.  

Almost dead center in this image you may notice a dark gray goose with a white head - this is also a Snow Goose, but a "blue morph" (sometimes called blue phase).  It is the same species, just a color variation.  You may also notice that some of the geese are more pale gray than white - these are juveniles hatched last summer in the high arctic where they breed.  I wish I could capture the sound because it's really quite magical.  anyway, I suspect I will head back tomorrow morning to see if I can catch them on the pond before they take off.  

One additional shot in Extra to give you a vague idea of the sheer numbers of them - literally, the entire pond was covered in white geese.

On a nearby stretch of water, I found several hundred Canada Geese, some Hooded Mergansers, Mallards and one solitary Herring Gull.  Winter is a great time for water fowl here in New Jersey.

Not much else to report today.  

xo
Debbi

Fitness Notes -  25 minutes on the treadmill for 1.4 miles; followed by 2 miles on the elliptical keeping my heart rate between 130-135.  Stretching and crunches and done!

Footnote: at 9:30 PM we heard the harsh barks of red fox in the woods behind the house. And a short time later I heard a Barred Owl calling for the second time in a week.