Al Hansen
Well-known member
I happened to have my eyes riveted on a family of snow geese as they descended into the newly flooded area at the refuge. I did not see the rest of the flock that had also split up into smaller groups from the original flock that had flown south from Colorado or possibly Nebraska. Here are some shots of mom, dad and their three youngsters as they came in.
Nothing amazes me more than the life of a snow goose. Going from being hunted darn near every day of its life, to becoming some of the elders of the waterfowl world is one of them and then the other is what I have witnessed so many times in my visits to the Bosque del Apache in the past 24 years since moving to this rare jewel of a state. I am talking about the goose's ability to know where it is and what it can expect from being there. To think that it is highly possible that many of the geese have been shot at in the past 24 to 48 hours is highly probable but when they land here in this wonderful refuge that we have in New Mexico, they have an air about them that seems to look like they know that they will not be harmed here. Some of the geese were landing maybe just 50 to 60 feet from visitors. Then they went about feeding and drinking like they had been here for a month.
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Here is the incoming family of five snow geese. You can see the rest of them in the background of the shot.
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No matter where you look in a flock of light geese, you will find the majority of them feeding or perhaps sleeping maybe after an exhausting leg of their trip now behind them. However, take the time to look about and you will always see a few of them making sure that everything is safe for the rest of the flock. The name applied is sentry and rightly so.
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Nothing amazes me more than the life of a snow goose. Going from being hunted darn near every day of its life, to becoming some of the elders of the waterfowl world is one of them and then the other is what I have witnessed so many times in my visits to the Bosque del Apache in the past 24 years since moving to this rare jewel of a state. I am talking about the goose's ability to know where it is and what it can expect from being there. To think that it is highly possible that many of the geese have been shot at in the past 24 to 48 hours is highly probable but when they land here in this wonderful refuge that we have in New Mexico, they have an air about them that seems to look like they know that they will not be harmed here. Some of the geese were landing maybe just 50 to 60 feet from visitors. Then they went about feeding and drinking like they had been here for a month.
View attachment IMG_7583.JPG
Here is the incoming family of five snow geese. You can see the rest of them in the background of the shot.
View attachment IMG_7557 (3).JPG
View attachment IMG_7564 (2).JPG
View attachment IMG_7569 (2).JPG
View attachment IMG_7577 (2).JPG
No matter where you look in a flock of light geese, you will find the majority of them feeding or perhaps sleeping maybe after an exhausting leg of their trip now behind them. However, take the time to look about and you will always see a few of them making sure that everything is safe for the rest of the flock. The name applied is sentry and rightly so.
View attachment IMG_7541 (2).JPG
View attachment IMG_7585.JPG
View attachment IMG_7586 (2).JPG
View attachment IMG_7588 (2).JPG