Snow Geese Index

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Snow Geese at Sunrise 5583

Three Snow Geese in flight at sunrise, leaving a Crane Pool at Bosque del Apache Wildlife Refuge.

Ross's Geese in Flight X3798

A group of Ross’s Geese in flight at mid-morning. Note the shorter neck and bill and lack of the grin patch.

Snow Geese at Sunrise 4593

Snow Geese Morning Flight 4179

Head-on and oblique flight portraits of Snow Geese in flight to the farm fields at sunrise.

Snow Geese in Flight 2252

Snow Geese in flight over the farm fields at mid-afternoon. The goose in the lower left foreground
has a long bill without grin patch and is likely to be a hybrid of a Snow Goose and a Ross’s Goose.

Snow Geese White and Blue Morphs X0867 M

The two color phases of the Snow Goose are shown in this flight portrait taken in the early morning.
White morph geese fly to the right of and above a blue morph goose, defocused in the background.

White morph snow geese are far more numerous than the dark phase (blue morph) geese. The two color
phases were once thought to be different species, but as they interbreed and are found together throughout
their ranges, they are now considered to be two color phases of the same species. The offspring of interbred
light and dark phase birds can be of either morph (the dark phase is the result of a single dominant gene).

All of the landscape (horizontal) large version images linked from the thumbnails are 1500 pixels wide.
Portrait (vertical) images are 1200 pixels tall (1290 pixels with title bar). Images designated with an “M”
in the shot number are 5:4 aspect ratio, 1500 x 1290 with a title bar, or 1500 x 1200 without a title bar.

Click the Display Composite above to visit the Snow Geese in Flight page.

Images in this section are in a number of different Galleries on the Photoshelter website.
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Snow Goose 1784 M

A 420mm telephoto oblique portrait of a Snow Goose beside the marsh at Bosque del Apache.
Note the rosy-red legs and feet and the black “grin-patch” or “lips” on the cutting edge of the bill.

Snow Geese at Sunrise X8748 M

Snow Geese are backlit by the rising sun on a cold morning in December at Bosque del Apache, NM.

The individual in the central foreground with the darker head and neck is a juvenile.

Snow Goose at Sunrise 3699

Snow Goose at Sunrise 4738

At left, a 500mm telephoto close portrait of a Snow Goose in flight to the Bosque del Apache farm fields at sunrise.
At right, an oblique head-on flight portrait showing the rectangular-shaped frontal aspect of the head of a Snow Goose.

Snow Goose in Flight 2218

A 420mm telephoto close portrait of a Snow Goose in flight over the farm fields in the early afternoon.

Snow Goose at Sunrise 6454 16x9

A 500mm head-on flight portrait of a Snow Goose over Bosque del Apache.

The wing span of the Snow Goose is between 53 and 65 inches (135-165 cm).

Click the Display Composite above to visit the Snow Goose Portraits and Flight Portraits page.

Images in this section are in a number of different Galleries on the Photoshelter website.
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Bosque del Apache Dawn Flyout 2232

A cloud of Snow Geese fly over a flock placidly swimming on the main pond along with Sandhill Cranes
and ducks, as the first light of sunrise paints the sky on a thinly overcast morning at Bosque del Apache.

The morning flyout of the Snow Geese is one of Nature’s most spectacular scenes.
Tens of thousands of Snow Geese fill the sky in an instantaneous burst of flight. A group
of geese take off at nearly the same moment, flying within inches of each other, and as the
madly honking gaggle of geese fly over each pool, they set off the group of geese below.
This shot captures a gaggle of geese flying over a group of geese in the pool below,
just before that group breaks into flight to join them in their trip to the corn fields.

Bosque del Apache Dawn Flyout X8726

Thousands of Snow Geese fly over the main pond at Bosque del Apache at dawn in late December.

Snow Geese Dawn Flyout 6398

Snow Geese Sunrise Silhouette 3897

Snow Geese silhouetted against the sky at dawn and at sunrise on two cold clear mornings in mid-December.

Snow Geese Sunset Fly-in 5925

A group of four Snow Geese glide in to land on the main pond at sunset in late December.

Snow Geese Dusk Landing 3615

A group of Snow Geese land on the main pond just after sunset in mid-December.

Click the Display Composite above to visit the Snow Goose Morning Flyout and Evening Fly-in page.

Images in this section are in a number of different Galleries on the Photoshelter website.
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Snow Geese at Dawn 3020

Snow Geese landing in front of a group of Sandhill Cranes at dawn in a Crane Pool
which reflects the mauve color of the impending sunrise on a mid-December morning.

Snow Geese Flyout Frenzy 2316

Snow Geese blast off from one of the Crane Pools in a mass flyout at dawn in mid-December.

Snow Geese are among the most populous birds in North America, and gather in huge flocks.
They breed in colonies in the arctic and subarctic tundra of Canada and north Alaska, migrating
distances of more than 3000 miles in the spring and fall. Lesser Snow Geese migrate down the
Pacific and Central Flyways to wintering areas in the Great Plains, Texas, New Mexico, Mexico
and California (Greater Snow Geese winter along the mid-Atlantic coast and the Carolinas).

Snow Geese have been divided into two subspecies based on size and geography, but
size overlap has caused some experts to question the division into Lesser and Greater.

Snow Geese at Sunrise 2769

A flock of Snow Geese warm up in a Crane Pool at sunrise
at Bosque del Apache Wildlife Refuge in mid-December.

Snow Geese Bosque Farm Fields 2169

Snow Geese fly over a dense flock in the farm fields
at Bosque del Apache Wildlife Refuge, New Mexico.

Snow Geese Sunset Fly-in 3073

Snow Geese flying in extremely close formation at sunset over the main pool at Bosque del Apache.
Sometimes, it is difficult to believe that they never collide, as some individuals are only inches apart.

Snow Geese Dusk Landing 5453

Snow Geese floating in for a landing on the main pond, which reflects mauve light bouncing off low clouds at dusk.

Click the Display Composite above to visit the Snow Goose Flock Scenes and Flight Flurries page.

Images in this section are in a number of different Galleries on the Photoshelter website.
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Bosque del Apache Dawn 2219

Dawn breaks over the main pool near the Flight Deck at Bosque del Apache on a
cold winter morning, painting the cloud cover, the pool, and a group of Snow Geese.

Bosque del Apache Dawn Flyout 2735

Thousands of Snow Geese fly over the main pond at Bosque del Apache at dawn in mid-December.

Snow Geese at Dawn 6435

Snow Geese fly over a group of their fellows in a Crane Pool as the rising sun paints the Chupadera Mountains.

Snow Geese at Sunrise X6407

Snow Geese fly over sleeping comrades huddling for
warmth on a brutally cold February morning at sunrise.

Snow Geese Moon X4031

Snow Geese fly in front of the moon at sunset in early December.

This is one of three available images of this scene.

Ladd Gordon Snow Geese at Sunset HS8379

A formation of Snow Geese in front of a pink cloud at sunset over Ladd Gordon Waterfowl Complex.

Click the Display Composite above to visit the Snow Goose Scenics page.

Snow Goose Sunset Landing 0434 M

A set of three 1500 x 1290 images of a Snow Goose landing at sunset in February.

Snow Goose Sunset Landing 0435 M

These images were cropped to a 5:4 aspect ratio and resized down from the 3:2 ratio SXL masters.

Snow Goose Sunset Landing 0436 M

A Snow Goose lands on the Main Pond at Bosque del Apache at sunset.

Images in this section are in a number of different Galleries on the Photoshelter website.
The Banner below leads to the Geese Collection where a Gallery can be selected.

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