Photos from Montezuma NWR (Part 1)

When we first arrived at the Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge there were no Snow Geese on the main pond. However, soon after 9 AM flock after flock arrived from the fields where they must have been getting their morning meal and landed in the middle of the open water. With the wind blowing strongly out of the south, this proved to be a poor choice of a resting area for them. The wind was creating a chop on the water that got stronger and stronger as you moved away from the south shore. After noon, the geese, being larger in body than the ducks, figured this out and moved toward the south end of the pond.

There's an observation platform and tower on that south end and Gary and I took advantage of the platform to get some photographs.

Gary with his digiscoping equipment on the observation platform.

There were several thousand Snow Geese in attendance and even more were landing as we watched.

A small sample of the Snow Geese present on the main pond.

This represents about 10% of the total.

Among all the white bodies were many, many blue morphs of the Snow Geese. These were formerly called Blue Geese and were, at one time, thought to be a separate species. They are now known to be a color variation which can, in some populations, be very abundant.

Two Blue Geese among the white Snow Geese.