The calls of Canada Geese in flight are harbingers of the changing seasons and that’s certainly the case around here. These birds visit a pond near my home and this time of year I can hear them flying over my house most mornings and evenings as they approach the pond or as they leave. I enjoy being inside my home and hearing them as they skim over my rooftop – it always brings a smile to my face.
Canada Goose numbers have increased significantly in recent years and many of them have lost their migratory instinct so they’re considered pests by some folks in some areas. As a result they often don’t get the respect I believe they deserve from photographers and birders.
1/2000, f/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
I visited that pond yesterday morning and watched several flocks of over a hundred geese noisily swooping in to land on the water. This is one of my photos from that experience.
I picked this image to feature on my blog for the following reasons:
- the birds are in tight formation but completely separated from each other
- all three geese are sharp – that’s not easy to do with this many large birds in flight when you’re shooting at these focal lengths (effectively 1120mm)
- the light angle is good and there’s a catch light in the eye of all three birds
Compositionally I’d prefer just a little more room in the frame on the left for the geese to fly into and I could have done that but I’d have had to clone out part of another bird. So for this presentation I chose to compromise on the composition in order to avoid cloning (which I don’t like to do).
Because they’re so common and sometimes annoying (goose poop in parks and golf courses isn’t much appreciated) photographs of Canada Geese typically don’t get a lot of attention. But they’re native to North America and they’re certainly interesting photo subjects so like any other native species I’ll photograph them when I can.
Especially in flight.
Ron
Note: Novices often use incorrect common names for birds and this species is one of the most often abused in that regard. Referring to them as “Canadian Geese” rather than their proper common name “Canada Geese” is almost guaranteed to make any seasoned birder or bird photographer wince. Just sayin…
The first thing that I noticed was that there was no merging. Lighting great as is focus. I enjoy watching their behaviours when they come in the spring from first arrival to breeding display and nesting then the goslings. And in the fall when I hear them it always feels a little melancholic.
I’ve always enjoyed Canada Geese — especially in flight. This is a really neat shot, Ron. Kent, thank you for the introduction to Leopold’s essay. I’ll have to look it up; I’m intrigued by the snippets. 🙂
Thank you, Marty. I agree about the “snippets” provided by Kent.
We live near the Columbia River, and hear lots of Canadian geese. I love being in the back yard and hearing that beautiful sound, even if I can’t see them. Thank you for the pictures and comments.
Thank you for appreciating both the images and the birds, Barbara.
I noticed all the things you listed about this shot when I first saw it: I’m getting better at noticing details in photos from reading your blog.
Common, but still beautiful. Just like coots, which I would have to say are my favorite bird; I love their beautiful plumage, the bright red on their bills and in their eyes, and, best of all, their bold and easily observed personalities and habits.
I’m certainly not a “birder”, which might be why I enjoy common species just as much as rare ones. I don’t keep lists, and I’m not on eBird or anything like it, though I do love the feeling of seeing and immediately identifying a new species (be it a bird, bug, or anything else that moves).
Great shot!
Sounds like we’re two peas in a pod, Levi (except that I’ve got a few decades on you…). I’m not a traditional birder either. I don’t keep lists and I’m not active on eBird, etc. I’m just a nature photographer who specializes in birds and their behaviors.
If you like coots, stay tuned. I may post some tomorrow.
Love them. We really are good at dismissing as common (or inconvenient) the wonders around us aren’t we?
Yes, we are, EC. Sadly…
Excellent shot Ron, I love the flight pattern that you caught. Do you have any shots with them landing on water?
The geese around here have over time adjusted to us (humans).As an example during hunting season, for the most part, they stay out in the middle of the lake only venturing in shallower areas at night. Many of the wild geese who have been banded in Canada we will see ever so often here in the Fall. We can usually separate the flocks that are migratory from the ones who are local.
“Do you have any shots with them landing on water?”
I think I do, Dick, but they’re probably not particularly good ones or I’d have remembered them better.
Reminded meo of the wonderful essay by Leopold “the Geese Return”, even though it was about the March arrival back north. I pasted in a small bit of it below.
The Geese Return
One swallow does not make a summer, but one skein of geese, cleaving the murk of a March thaw, is the spring.
A cardinal, whistling spring to a thaw but later finding himself mistaken, can retrieve his error by resuming his winter silence. A chipmunk, emerging for a sunbath but finding a blizzard, has only to go back to bed. But a migrating goose, staking two hundred miles of black night on the chance of finding a hole in the lake, has no easy chance for retreat. His arrival carries the conviction of a prophet who has burned his bridges.
I had never read that, Kent. I like it a lot. Thanks for sharing it.
I especially remember the lines part of his essay about the international commerce of geese transporting sunlight and corn…
“Every March since the Pleistocene, the geese have honked unity from Currituck to Labrador, Matamuskeet to Ungava, Horseshoe Lake to Hudsons Bay, Avery Island to Baffin Land, Panhandle to Mackenzie, Sacramento to Yukon.
By this international commerce of geese, the waste corn of Illinois is carried through the clouds to the Arctic tundras there to combine with the waste sunlight of a nightIess June to grow goslings for all the lands between. And in this annual barter of food for light, and winter warmth for summer solitude, the whole continent receives as net profit a wild poem dropped from the murky skies upon the muds of March.”
I love that snippet. Thank you so much Kent.
I’m glad to see you post a photo of Canada Geese, as they have been a long time favorite of mine. I got to know a flock of them very well in Salisbury, MD, and had some amazing experiences with them. In my experience of them, they are very civilized family birds, with which one can have relationships. They are also beautiful. I’ll take them over Ducks any day. (Long stories about my experiences with both Ducks and Canada Geese.) I’m sorry these birds are so under-appreciated – we, as humans, could learn a lot from them.
Agreed, Susan. The fact that they’re monogamous and have life-long pair bonds is one of the lessons many humans could learn from them…
I think they’re beautiful birds…noisy, messy, feisty, but beautiful…I love to see and hear them….
Good. I wish more folks appreciated them for their strengths.
Beautiful image……I recognize that “inner smile” in response to their calls—for me, it was in response to the cranes’ celebratory-sounding calls as they flew the Rio Grande in Spring and
Autumn—I do so miss that calendar from the sky !
“I do so miss that calendar from the sky”
I like the way you said that, Kris.
Few things beat watching geese set their wings and come slipping down into a pond or field calling as they come. Great shot.
I agree with you, Ron. And I love it when they’re fairly close to the water and they’re using their spread webbed feet as air brakes – the middle bird in this photo is just beginning to do that. They occasionally perform aerial gymnastics on their way down but I’ve found that very difficult to photograph.
Nicely done Ron. I agree, its difficult to get multiple birds in a shot without having some part of the birds intersect. You got this one. I got a trio of Snow geese last week in wonderful evening light that I love except for a slight wing overlap. I would agree that the image could be improved with a little more room for the birds to fly into on the left of the frame. I know you don’t like to do too much manipulation to photos, but you could add canvas and fill with sky. But actually I think the image is fairly well balanced here and quite good.
On a side note, I am dealing with a failed external hard drive with lots of images on it. Wish me luck on the recovery and if you have any suggestions I am all ears.
Frank, what you describe is any photographer’s nightmare! I’ve heard that experienced techs can often retrieve images from a failed hard drive but I’ve also heard that it can be relatively expensive.
I wish you luck, big time!
Love their legs. My daughter calls them “ballet” legs!
🙂
Beautiful! We’ve had huge flocks of the Canada Geese in the last week or so in the stubble fields on the way to town – larger than we’ve seen in a few years. One flock was coming in and reminded me of the huge flocks of small birds coming to roost (can’t remember what it’s called). They can be a pain, BUT they are beautiful. 🙂
“They can be a pain, BUT they are beautiful”
That sums up how a lot of folks feel, Judy. When I was a kid in MT they weren’t nearly so common so I think they were more appreciated back then.