The Snow Goose may be very common to some of you, but not where I live in the Blue Ridge Mountains. In the winter at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, New Mexico they are present in abundance! I caught this one just as the light was fading in the evening and he was flying and calling to the rest of the flock. I think they are beautiful to watch and facinating to know that they make very long journeys during migration. Some Snow Geese that winter in western North America which is where I photographed this one, actually breed in Siberia!

I captured this goose, landing in the water in the Orchestra position, at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge last winter. I assumed it was a Snow goose because the pond was filled with white geese that everyone around me referred to as “snow geese”. Something looked a little different about this one but, caught in the moment of capturing the image I didn’t pay attention to the details. It wasn’t until I processed the image that I saw that it is much smaller than the Snow Goose and the beak is different. It lacks the black “lips” of the Snow Goose. This is a Ross’s Goose that lives in the same habitat as the Snow Goose and sometimes cross breeds with the Snow Goose.