From my winters living in Montana I remember what it’s like to drive through snow like this. Flying through it in flocks of other birds must be even more harrowing, in part because of its three dimensional challenges in significantly reduced visibility.
1/1250, f/6.3, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
Ten days ago I was attempting to photograph birds at one of the local ponds I frequent when it started to snow pretty hard. I’m thinking the snow might have been the catalyst for the many geese in flight in the area to land somewhere while they could still do it safely because they started landing on the pond in droves. Wave after noisy wave of them.
I caught this one descending to the pond with snow covered trees in the background. Because of all the fluffy snowflakes between me and the geese they were more difficult than usual to focus on. I was using only a single active focus point and I believe that if I’d been using multiple focus points it would have been even more of a challenge to get sharp photos. Perhaps even impossible.
Photos like this may have limited appeal because of the poor light that caused reduced detail and muted colors. Some may even find all the bright white snowflakes distracting. But I tend to like falling rain and snow in my photos. I like the mood it provides and the reality of dealing with nature’s challenges.
And for me this kind of photo brings back harrowing memories of driving in Montana blizzards. I enjoy the memories much more than I did the experience.
Ron
Note: In the spirit of complete disclosure I removed a single snowflake from in front of the eye of the goose.
Love how you froze the action on both the goose and the snow-find this to be a lovely image.
Ron, I love the Canada Goose but love the beautiful snowflakes coming down as much. I’m sorry for the Goose that must be having a difficult time seeing.
Speaking of following tracks in the snow, my Mother loved to tell the story about her school bus driver [in rural Minnesota] who followed dog tracks in the snow and ran into a telephone pole!!! I guess that we who live or have grown up in snow can think of many harrowing experiences.
Thanks for the great post.
Thanks, Alice. That’s funny about the bus driver following dog tracks. They were probably about the only thing he could see.
Nice seasonal shot. A bit of a 3D effect with the snow in and out of focus. Makes me wish we could get some snow here (a good dusting would be fine – no need for a big dump) which might happen starting Saturday.
Thanks, Lyle. We’ve had a fair amount of snow in the mountains but not much in the valleys this winter.
Oh my. I have rarely seen falling snow, and I find it magical – while appreciating the difficulty of driving/flying through it.
And this soft and chilly image is soooo welcome here today. (another dreadful few days predicted on the fire fronts).
Thanks, EC. I saw that Sydney got rain yesterday. Hope you guys did too.
We got 1mm the day before. Which is about 0.03 of an inch. No significant (fire dousing) rain is expected before February (or possibly March.
Yikes…
Nice photo. I like the trees in the background. Gives it a good touch!
Thanks, Jean.
Love the photo. It can be a great challenge to get a bird, not snow, in focus during a snowstorm.
I don’t really know how disorienting it may be for birds in a snowstorm. Diurnal birds see UV light very well and there are many studies and much speculation about how they use this capability. But heavy snowfall may be problematic. Snow cover on the ground reflects UV light very well. Up to 80% of UV is reflected by snow as opposed to less than 10% by grass. Water, however, absorbs most of the UV, so geese may come to ponds in a snowstorm because they clearly see the open water even in the midst of a lot of UV reflection. (I must admit that I am guessing here as I don’t know of any direct studies about this.) For geese, it’s a safe refuge during the storm. We have to remember, too, that we see is very different that what birds see. We see white snow, but what does a bird see? If all colors are equal, we see white, but for birds, UV can be stronger that other wavelengths and thus, white may not be the result. Since we can’t see UV we will never know exactly what a bird sees. So a white Snowy Owl may not look white against the snow as we see them since the feathers of the owl and the snow reflect UV differently. There is some evidence that reindeer forage selectively on different plants based on UV reflection. (Some mammals do see limited UV). It’s fun to speculate about what birds see during a snowstorm, but it likely is different from what we see.
You’ve made some interesting points, Dan. As a photographer I’m sure glad that snow reflects light upward. That reflected light has saved many of my images.
Love the photo, and love your sympathetic comment on the difficulties of seeing when some constant, inconsistent distraction abounds. Given the color capacities and detail resolution of diurnal birds’ vision, I wonder what these geese do see. I don’t think the goose’s eye has been studied, specifically, at least I’ve never read anything about it, and there may be many species variations in vision across the avian world, but even the thought of seeing snow as they do is intriguing.
“even the thought of seeing snow as they do is intriguing.”
Intriguing indeed, Sallie. Thank you.
A lovely photo! I see poetry in this photo that shows weather, atmosphere and real life. The bird fits so beautifully in the frame and the snow fell so perfectly for you 🙂 Congrats.
Thank you, Joanne.
Really like this Ron. Reminds me of the many snow storms while growing up in Pennsylvania. Of course your eye is quickly taken up by the goose, but then as you look for a little longer you see all the tree limbs in the background and it is a nice effect. In your photoing honesty you pointed out that you removed a single snowflake that blocked the eye. Somehow reminded me of that Ken Follett book many years back, “The Eye of the Needle.” Someone should write a mystery book called, “The Eye of the Goose.” 🙂
“The Eye of the Goose”
Everett, that’s why that snowflake bothered me so much. It was brighter than the dim catch light in the goose’s eye right next to it.
Gorgeous photo, Ron…. 🙂 Beautiful snow showing the environment the goose is in…… Of course, I also “know” about driving in blinding storms particularly at night! On my “route” to town I had certain sets of power poles I could watch/watch for to let me know when a “coolie” was coming up since the fact I was going down hill wasn’t always apparent to me! Also try to keep the poles along the road in a certain spot on the windshield to keep on the road! “Tracks” weren’t always useful as some were headed for the ditch! Joe much better at it than I 😉 Glad I can “opt out” easily for the most part these days. 🙂 The critters DO have a 3D challenge. Even watching them try and fly in some of the wind we’ve been having is tough on them.
““Tracks” weren’t always useful as some were headed for the ditch!”
Judy, that happened to me once on the way from town to the farm at night. I stayed out of the ditch but it was too close for comfort. The only thing that save me is that I was driving at about walking speed.
I, too, find this and photos like it most appealing! 😍 Reality in all it’s glory. Those background branches are terrific. You have to feel for the geese. I remember many a night driving home after working afternoon shift at the hospital in blinding snowstorms when I lived in the tip of the U.P. of Michigan…occasionally there would be tire tracks to alert you to where the road was but not always. ‘Fun Times’.
Kathy, my mom was a nurse and she often worked night shifts too. She knew all the intricacies of keeping dialysis and ER patients alive and improving but she was never very good at driving in snow. Some people “get it” but some people don’t. We always worried about her driving home in blizzards.