Where you can see the snow geese in eastern Idaho this spring - East Idaho News
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Where you can see the snow geese in eastern Idaho this spring

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“How many geese are in that cornfield,” I asked John, my son-in-law driver, as we viewed thousands of snow geese landing in a field.

“Must be 20 or 30,000,” John replied.

No, we weren’t in Idaho but in central Utah, near Delta, where the Snow Goose Festival will be held this weekend to celebrate the migration of these waterfowl through their backyard. John, who loves to watch and photograph large buck deer, humored me by wasting his Saturday morning taking me out to look for the geese.

As the waves of geese created the common mix-master effect as they came into the field, I noticed that there was a different look than what I see when I study them as they migrate through the Upper Snake River Valley. Of course, there were a few “blue phase” and it appeared that almost a third of the flock was made up of Ross’s geese (a smaller version of Snow geese). The most notable difference was that most of them had clean white faces. Only a few of them had the white feathers around their bill stained by dirt.

By the time the flocks of Snow geese get to our neck of the woods, their faces have been stained by digging in the ground for food. This causes their face to take on a red tint as they dig up old rotten potatoes and young wheat and barley plants, including the root systems. Most of the Delta bunch had beautiful whiteheads that contrast with their black wingtips as they picked kernels of corn from the surface.

In the last four springs, Snow geese have shown up west of Idaho Falls and Rigby in mid-March. Before they get here, they will stop for a few days near Salt Lake. They will typically be near American Falls around the first of March. From there, the geese will follow the melting snow line to the Upper Snake River Valley. With up to 70,000 big birds in the migration, it takes lots of food to recharge their fat reserves for the last leg of their migration to their nesting ground in extreme northern Canada.

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The snow goose migration to our area won’t be the first to happen. Sandhill cranes should start showing up around March 5. As soon as they get here, the show starts. Their elaborate dance moves resemble “Dancing with the Stars.” I have not seen their human counterparts throwing dried cow-pies or parts of cattails at their partners like I have seen these leggy birds do.

Around March 10, both Trumpeter and Tundra swans should show up, with the Tundras only staying a few days before moving north. About the same time, Mallard and Northern pintail ducks will invade Deer Parks Wildlife Management Area, the Osgood and Market Lake areas with other dabbling ducks quickly following.

After the snow geese show up and are using the area for their refueling stop, other March migrants like the Long-billed curlews, swallows and Peregrine falcons will show up to entertain the wildlife fans of the area.

If you are inclined to enjoy snow geese as they move from field-to-pond-to-field again, know that there is a good chance for you to be poop bombed. It takes their digestive system only an hour or two to change food into fat and fertilizer which causes a discharge that seems to be constant and targets cute automobiles.

I am excited to experience wild March as spring gets sprung on us. Good Luck with your wildlife adventures as warmth replaces the frigid polar air.

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Living the Wild Life is brought to you by The Healing Sanctuary.

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