On this day the geese started to arrive about an hour before sunset. Dozens at first, then hundreds, and several thousand by sunset. Hundreds landed on the far end of a field of corn and hundreds more were following the same path. Almost as quickly as they landed, they blasted off. The air was thick with geese, some gliding down and others rising from the field. They merged and began to circle the field again. They would land and blast off a few times before last light.

In the early 1900s, the population of Greater Snow Geese was estimated at about 3,000. Today, the population is estimated at 700,000 - 800,000. They breed in the high arctic from the Foxe Basin to northern Elsemere Island and western Greenland; overwintering occurs primarily from New Jersey to North Carolina. The increased population has led to concern about potential impacts on other species that also breed in the high arctic.

They are my favorite of all geese and I will enjoy every opportunity to see them.

Snow Geese settle in a corn field to forage.