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Archive 2009 · 90,000
  
 
Two23
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p.1 #1 · 90,000


In March of 2005 I was driving home in eastern South Dakota and saw a few thousand snow geese circling a small lake. I had my Nikon F100 and lenses 500mm f4 and 28-80mm f2.8 along. I saw a couple of state FishyGame biologists standing by their truck by the lake so I pulled alongside and got out. Looking through my Nikon binocculars I saw the small lake and surrounding grasslands were completely coated with geese. I asked the biologists how many were in this flock. They replied, "We think about 90,000 of them are here but a little further north there's........" At that point several gunshots rang out from hunters somewhere nearby. The lake erupted into a white blizzard. The sound from the geese all screaming at once instantly drowned out our voices even when we shouted as loudly as we could. The geese circled the lake like a huge cyclone before eventually settling back down. I took a few shots with my 28-80mm lens and headed on home. I've seen all this many times before.

Every spring birds by the millions return to the Arctic from points further south. The availability of high quality food on the Northern Plains (grain) has fueled a tremendous population explosion among these birds, particularly snow geese. When my kids were younger I would take them out to see the massive flocks, sometimes half a million strong. We'd crawl out to the edge of the semi-frozen lakes wearing our camo. When we had gone as far as we could go, we'd jump up and scream, "BOOGA BOOGA BOOGA!" as loudly as we could. Instantly tens of thousands if not over 100,000 birds would similtaneously leap into the air, all screaming at the tops of their lungs. My kids & I would then fall on our backs and watch the frantic cloud circling above us, in awe. It's truly something to behold. I'm sure my kids will never forget their "Adventures With Daddy." I have never regretted moving to South Dakota.


Kent in SD
This image is copyrighted by the owner

Edited on Nov 16, 2009 at 12:32 AM · View previous versions


Nov 16, 2009 at 12:28 AM
Lumen01
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p.1 #2 · 90,000


holy shmoly batman, that's a lot of birds!

Neat photo, looks like a blast!

Evan

PS did you get a lot of bird poop on you?


Nov 16, 2009 at 12:31 AM
Qranc
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p.1 #3 · 90,000


That's pretty amazing stuff.

The idea of poop came to my mind as well lol!

Rene


Nov 16, 2009 at 02:42 AM
hillsidekim
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p.1 #4 · 90,000


When you lay there looking up at that fantastic sight, I sincerely hope you and your kids kept your mouths shut.
Kim


Nov 16, 2009 at 02:55 AM
Tim Ashton
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p.1 #5 · 90,000


It is an amazing no of birds when you consider how big they are
Tahnks for sharing
Tim


Nov 16, 2009 at 03:25 AM
Andre Labonte
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p.1 #6 · 90,000


WOW ... are you sure you weren't doing a macro shot of mosquitos!? That is amazing.

Nov 16, 2009 at 05:07 AM
 



Kittyk
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p.1 #7 · 90,000


now if every tenth poop above your head. go figure...
amazing picture


Nov 16, 2009 at 06:06 AM
Chris Dees
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p.1 #8 · 90,000


hillsidekim wrote:
When you lay there looking up at that fantastic sight, I sincerely hope you and your kids kept your mouths shut.
Kim


+1


Nov 16, 2009 at 08:37 AM
derry1
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p.1 #9 · 90,000


would be interesting to have seen a 10mm of this flock,, sure there are many more on each side,,

have experienced large flocks of birds and it is interesting to hear the level of sound they can generate,,

Derry


Nov 16, 2009 at 03:21 PM
Two23
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p.1 #10 · 90,000


Birds tend to poop just as they are getting ready to take off, so I've rarely been hit. Not to say it's never happened, . Worst hit I ever took was the time I was in my kayak and nosing around in a commorant rookery. There were over 100 nests up in the dead trees, each full of parents and young birds. They all poop and the sound of it hitting the lake was constant. I was lining up a shot of a baby bird peeking over the side of a nest when I spooked an adult on a nearby limb. It cut a load loose and flew off. I got hit square in the back. Commorants are fish eaters, and their poop smells like rotten fish plus a lot of extra stink thrown in for good measure. And, there's a lot of it! I ended up having to wash off in the lake before I could get back into my vehicle. I buried the shirt at the scene. If I brought that home my wife's reaction would have been worse than the bird's!


Kent in SD


Nov 17, 2009 at 12:28 AM
Mert
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p.1 #11 · 90,000


Boga=Bull (Turkish)

Nov 17, 2009 at 01:05 AM
HubbardJA
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p.1 #12 · 90,000


Awesome picture!

Nov 17, 2009 at 03:48 AM
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