Ok, so it's 110 on Thursday, about 102 yesterday. Family members and I were in the pool recovering from the heat, when I look up and OMG, there's a flock of about 15 snow geese circling overhead! As they were riding the currents, they were moving northward. Unfortunately, getting to the camera gear was impossible since I was soaking wet, but it was a lovely moment none the less.
My question is this, what are they still doing in Northern California? Shouldn't they have migrated to Washington or Canada by now? I'm sure that's where they were headed, but what could have delayed their migration?
Quite an exciting site to see, but made me real anxious for fall/winter to get here so they will return en masse!
Maybe they were white pelicans. At a long distance it's hard to discern between the two species. I'll check with the Colusa NWR manager for his opinion.
dalite wrote:
Maybe they were white pelicans. At a long distance it's hard to discern between the two species. I'll check with the Colusa NWR manager for his opinion.
My first thought was the same as Dalite's: are you sure they weren't white pelicans?
1. With their similar size and black-tipped wings, from a distance, soaring white pelicans do look a lot like snow geese.
2. Unlike snow geese, white pelicans do a lot of soaring.
3. According to Sibley, N. California is in the summer range of white pelicans, but not snow geese (at this time of year). Several years ago I saw groups of white pelicans between Bishop and Mono Lake.
4. Wood storks also have the same white-black coloring and soar, but they are rare in N. Calif.
Hmmmm, I've never seen white pelicans, let alone in No CA. However, that's kinda why I asked, seemed very unusual for snow geese. Now that I've looked them up, I see how I could be mistaken. Now I REALLY wish I had gotten out of the pool to get shots of them!
