My first encounter with snow geese was rather brief. While driving through the backroads of Skagit Valley north of Seattle, a large patch of white on an otherwise barren brown field caught my eye. As I passed a US Fish and Wildlife refuge, I realized that the large patch of white was actually a huge flock of wintering Snow Geese. I made a U-turn on the narrow backroad and entered the refuge's parking lot. As I got out of the van, camera in hand, the huge flock took flight, an initial murmur quickly transforming into a thunderous roar as tens of thousands of Snow Geese flapped their wings and exchanged calls as they scouted a new feeding ground. Within minutes, the flock settled on a farther field, starting to feed once again. For the remainder of that day, the flock receeded farther and farther into the distance, leaving us with no opportunity to observe or photograph them. However, the momentary experience of watching the birds, as they took flight, encouraged me to learn more about the birds and re-visit this wintering ground with hopes of better opportunities to observe and photograph them before they embarked on their northerly migration to arctic nesting grounds.

Native Indians of North America have long observed the seasonal migration of snow geese but it was only recently that their nesting grounds were discovered. Aptly, they were named Chen Hyperboreus meaning "from beyond the north" and blue geese, once thought to be a different species but now understood to be just a 'phase' of the white snow geese, were named Chen Caerulescens. Now scientists use the latter scientific name to refer to both phases of the snow geese. The sexes of both phases look alike. White phase birds are pure white with black wing tips and pink beak and feet while juveniles have grey-white plumage in their first year. Blue phase adult birds have white heads but greyish blue body color and juveniles have slate grey plumage all over, including the head. Blue geese migrate through the prairies of the mid-west and are rarely found on the west coast. The phases of blue and white snow geese is known as plumage dimorphism. During the wintering season, snow geese will exhibit rusty patches on their head and the undersides of their body and this temporary coloration is caused by feeding on water with high iron content. Snow geese differ from their closest relative, Ross's geese, by having a "grinning patch" at the end of their beaks and being physically larger. Ross's geese have shorter and stouter bills. The two species sometimes mate, producing offsprings with mixed features.

Part    1 . 2 . 3

A close-knit family landing in formation

The Flight of the Snow Geese
Deborah King

Hardcover, 32pp., 1998-09, Orchard Books (NY)

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The Snow Geese: A Story of Home
William Fiennes

Hardcover, 288pp., 2002-02-12, Random House