What's good for the goose …

Snow geese and Canada geese (background) gather in a field  left uncovered by spring near Pioneer Peak

With overnight snow in the forecast for the next few days, winter still clings to the landscape like a puppy who won't let go of the rope.  But winter is losing as temperatures rise and more of those spring signs show up daily.  Although the flights must have been in progress, I hadn’t noticed a wedge of geese until maybe a week ago.

Snow geese begin to encroach into Canada territory.

Then driving out of town yesterday I noticed a line of cars parked along the roadside just near the farm right at the edge of the residential area.

White spots against the sandy tan background of a fallow field had drawn the attention of passersby and I pulled over as well.  Snow geese and Canada geese were picking their way through the field very close to the road, much to the delight of folks who stopped.

I made the photograph at the tip with my iPhone, took a few more and just before I left I spotted a fellow with his daughter of 3 or 4 attempting to take one of those long-armed self portraits of the two of them so I offered to take one for them with their camera.  I hope it came out, glare was so bad it was difficult to see on their phone's screen.

Diversity in the goose world.  I only saw one little dust up.

Upon waking today I looked at the photo on my facebook page and decided it was too fuzzy (camera shake in an old guy's hands) and with the sun coming out wrestled with the idea of going back with a real camera, wrestled at least until I realized there would be no more sleep until I did.

Of course, when I reached the field the geese had moved way back from the road and the closest approach (it is private land with a healthy fence around it) would not have the mountain in the background.  Still  a sharp picture was worth making and I did.

A flight of geese approaches the field.

As I was preparing to leave I drove back to where I had taken the picture the previous day, thinking white spots way off in the field with the mountain in sunlight might still make a good photo.  But  before I could get the car in position and get out, all together the snow geese rose from the field, formed a loosely organized wedge and flew off toward the mountain. They didn't circle like birds will do when they are disturbed by something. looking to come back and land once it's safe. Those birds were going somewhere. Oddly, none of the Canada geese flew way, but continued pecking about in the field. What trigger had signaled all the white geese to take off in the same direction at the same time?  Obviously nothing had frightened them into flight or all the geese would have taken off.  But something basic had sparked all the snow geese to rise at once and leave while their darker cousins couldn't have cared less.

By the time I recovered from that thought process enough to remember the camera in my hands, the snow geese had disappeared into the white of the mountain background leaving me and maybe a Canada goose or two to wonder what the heck caused that.

Snow geese not long before the big takeoff.