Snow Goose

"Check your geese!", my friends say at the Hoy Audubon.....

Such case is true.... Among large flocks of Canadian Geese, one could find a Greater White Fronted Goose, Cackling Goose, Ross Goose and in my case, a Snow Goose. Safety in numbers I say. This is a common occurrence among geese, ducks, finches, sparrows and other bird species.

Snow Geese, however are not rare. They are just not typically found in Wisconsin. They migrate through from the northernmost tips of Canada to the southern States and Mexico, usually taking a route though the Plains states, where is there is rich farmlands and wetlands. A few may stray with the Canadian Geese across the Midwest.

Snow Geese come in two morphs, a white and a blue.White-morph birds are white except for black wing tips, but blue-morph geese have bluish-grey plumage replacing the white except on the head, neck and tail tip. And yes. they interbreed...

This picture above was taken at Roosevelt Park on 9/24/2012. Tender Heart and I just were coming back from birding at Chiwaukee in Pleasant Prairie when we were discussing the fall migration of birds. I had mentioned the possibility of Snow Geese passing through when we spotted one among a dozen Canadian Geese at Roosevelt Park. Talk about luck! Tender Heart snapped a few pics before a kid launched a soccer ball into the small flock, sending the geese flying over the Wastewater Treatment Center and into Lake Michigan. They were never heard from them again... This was the only time I had ever seen a Snow Goose! Tender Heart did see two more flying over Rapids Drive earlier this year, possibly leaving the Quarry. Another birder seen a couple a few days earlier at the quarry on 3 mile and Douglas by the old Harris Metal building. Good luck in finding any!  Check your geese along Nicholson Road, Carre-Hagel Park and elsewhere geese mat be, especially during the spring migration.... Below is a picture of a blue morph of a Snow Goose, taken by someone else from another website...