A species I try not to ignore and I’m glad I paid attention to this guy. I almost didn’t.
Yesterday afternoon there were few birds on the pond that weren’t coots or mallards, birds that I had little interest in. But I did notice a single Canada Goose at a good distance for flight shots if ‘he’ should decide to take off. Occasionally there were other geese flying high overhead so I watched him carefully for quite a while, thinking he might take off and join them.
As per my usual luck, he eventually decided to do just that but I had momentarily glanced away so I missed the earliest shots of him lifting off.
1/5000, f/5.6, ISO 800, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in
But I got him in my viewfinder and in focus very soon after. I think this first shot is my favorite of the series.
1/5000, f/5.6, ISO 800, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in
These first three photos are…
1/4000, f/5.6, ISO 800, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in
sequential in a burst but then I’m skipping three shots that had photobombing coots and/or mallards in the background.
1/4000, f/5.6, ISO 800, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in
Typical of geese, he was making lots of noise during the takeoff process but this is the only shot I got where he was calling.
1/6400, f/5.6, ISO 800, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in
By now he’d built up a pretty good head of steam and he’d flown quite a distance so…
1/6400, f/5.6, ISO 800, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in
I was shooting out my window at an angle so far behind my pickup I was having a hard time keeping him in my viewfinder, much less in focus. As a result I was lucky to get these last two photos. I actually got 20 shots where he was sharp and no body parts were cut off but in 14 of the 20 there were either photobombing birds in the background or I wasn’t particularly fond of his flight posture. Or both.
I don’t post photos of Canada Geese very often because they’re so common, and often a nuisance, so they typically don’t get much positive reaction from folks. But they’e a native species and I think they can be very impressive in flight and in the right light, even beautiful.
So I try not to ignore them. In this case I’m glad I didn’t.
Ron
Thoughts on Canada Geese:
1. When I see skeins of geese flying across a landscape, I always think of the lovely paintings by the British artist, Peter Scott. His work is out of fashion I think, but, speaking as a photographer and painter, worth studying and admiring.
2. Individual geese have different attitudes and “personalities” that I try to capture when I photograph them.
3. Back east, where I grew up, they smother the fields and can ruin newly planted crops. They are quite a nuisance and are generally disliked.
4. I recommend Bernrd Heinrich’s book, ‘The Geese of Beaver Bog” as another interesting reflection on the relationship between geese and people.
I hope your recovery goes well.
Thank you for the book recommendation and all the comments. I’m grateful to Ron for enabling this community.
Hello,
Just an introduction.
I started following your blog about two months ago and as a rule…I do not follow blogs. I live in Montana. My father raised me to love mathematics and geology and somehow I slid into a position where everyone who knows me says I am “really an ornithologist”. My hobby is photography- outdoors, typically macro. I am a big Canon enthusiast. Anyway I felt if I did not introduce – that I might be one of those “stalker” types. I am LOVING your blog and I thank you as I have learned so much already! Keep it coming. I wish you pain free joints and sunny skies soon ( had my first today after 9 days of gloom) Flathead Lake MT
Welcome to Feathered Photography, Lisa. And thanks for the fairly detailed introduction.
I grew up in MT – Cut Bank. Do you happen to know Dennis and Betty Ann Morgan? They’ve been very good friends of mine since our high school days and they have a house on Flathead Lake at Lakeside. Dennis passed away recently but I suspect that Betty Ann owns it now. She’s a real estate agent out of Havre.
Thank you for the response.
Do not know of Betty Ann, but I will watch out for her.
Just had lunch today at the Tamarack Brew Pub in Lakeside. Coincidence as I live further south at the southwestern tip of Finley Point.
Today we had Canada Geese, Bald Eagles, Merganzer, coots and possibly Buffleheads (too far out to tell) in my small cove.
Dennis was active in the Lakeside Volunteer Fire Department for years.
Great focus and wing positions in the ones you posted. I really like your new camera.
Thanks, David. I like it too. It definitely gets some of the credit for me getting as many sharp shots of the goose as I did.
I did not intend to give the camera credit for the shots of the goose …. I was just reflecting on the quality of the images you have posted since you acquired it.
The light in 1 is so lovely and 4 is also a favourite. Any bird that chooses to gift me with a photo to remember is worthy of my appreciation, no matter the species. Although I am not fond of their aggression and nuisance behaviour I can remember, when I was for many years far away in South America, looking up and seeing their flying wedge and feeling that special tug of home so I guess I have a soft spot for them.
I understand that “soft spot”, Granny Pat – even immediately after I’ve stepped in a big gob of fresh goose poop.
I love all of the pictures Ron. I like being able to see the legs so clearly in pictures 2 and 6 although the pictures with their wings nearly touching the water are more dramatic. I always get a kick out of seeing how intense they look with their stretched out necks and serious expressions. They are off on an important mission.
Frances, as you probably know, they can back up their serious expressions with some pretty serious agression when they need to.
Canada Goose are an introduced and nuisance species down here in New Zealand but your images emphasis what beautiful and elegant birds they are – superb images.
Thanks very much, Gary.
Love that first one. Artful shot.
Thanks, Michael. That one is my favorite also.
Superb lighting. The Goose almost glows. And an excellent opportunity to open Sibley and study those wing feathers, both dorsal and ventral.
Well, I’m off on a chicken search. My neighbor just came over and said a Barred Owl got into the coop last night and while she was getting the Owl out one of the chickens took off into the woods. I hope it doesn’t turn into a wild goose chase.
Good luck! The chickens always amaze me with their ability to find a safe hidey hole for the night. One of ours used to manage to get up about 10′ into a spruce tree by the house!
I also wish you luck with the chicken, Lyle. With the price of eggs these days, chickens seem to have taken on some extra value.
Absolutely love this time of year in AZ when the geese visit during their migration. They commute daily over our house to the Salt River Indian Reservation morning and night. We call it ‘the commuter train.’ 1st photo is my fave – love how close to the water his wings are!
You’re very welcome, Carolyn.
They commute daily over my house too, Kathleen. Loudly.
Common, and can be messy, yes, but they grab my heart every time I see/hear them. Thank you for featuring this beauty.
You’re very welcome, Carolyn.
Judging by how close the wing tips are to the water in the first shot you didn’t miss the take off by much. A delightful series – thank you. I suspect I would have thanked the woman who told her children that bread was bad for them.
You’re right EC, I didn’t miss it by much. But as they say, coming close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.
I like these lovey photos. I always think it is a touch of grace to hear geese when I am out and about, on a trail or in parking lot.
Take Care,
Kaye
“I always think it is a touch of grace to hear geese when I am out and about”
I like the way you put that, Kaye.
Big smiles from snowless northern Illinois and ice free Lake Michigan shore. Thank you for your Goose capture allowing a common nuisance to be appreciated for their beauty. Goose vocalizations always grab my ear because some of the calls seem universal in usage. Like my other favorite Blue Jays and Crows. Now I need to go down a “goose pile” to find out if any curious grad students are studying bird language. I love picture 4 because I hear what he’s saying! Love these.
Thanks, Diane. I’m fond, very fond, of goose vocalizations too.
They are beautiful and you’ve captured what I love most about them – size, subtle coloring, flight. And the head. The head is amusing. There’s a very old Saturday Evening Post cover I have never forgotten. A kid sitting in a dentist’s office, with a white handkerchief tied around his head and jaw, and a superbly miserable look on his face.
This one?
https://www.art.com/products/p12413951463-sa-i6339825/kurt-ard-in-the-dentist-s-chair-saturday-evening-post-cover-october-19-1957.htm
No, an older one, I think. I remember the handkerchief tied around the boy’s jaw. This one is great too, but doesn’t look goosey.
Beautiful series, Ron. 🙂 They ARE common here and annoying at times. Been some HUGE flocks this winter tho haven’t seen any recently. More and more have been staying over.
They haven’t gotten the message about feeding them at Gibson Park yet tho the sure whine about them taking over giving the other ornamentals a hard way to go. VERY close to the river and those nice nesting boxes….. 😉
Most folks haven’t “gotten the message” around here either, Judy. That or they got the message and ignored it.
Absolutely beautiful. The first and third pics are my favorite. I love Canada Geese. They are wonderful devoted family members and have lovely greetings and calls. Your series is quite impressive especially when one knows how much you have been through. It is wonderful to know that you are out and about again. Good on that mom for telling her children that bread is bad for geese!! You are a better man than I am. Gunga Din. I would have spoken up to validate her warning.
Melanie, I would have “spoken up” but by then she and her kids were walking away and I was in my pickup so I just didn’t.
Beautiful Ron. One and five are pretty much the same, but I will join you in picking number one. I think it has a tad more light than five. All so good though that picking one is not easy. We have so many at our two largest lakes that like you I often ignore them. The ignored – Canada Geese, American Coots, Mallards, Robins, Mourning Doves, etc, but all deserve some attention now and then.
“but all deserve some attention now and then”
That’s pretty much my philosophy, Everett – even starlings on occasion. However, I usually draw the line at House Sparrows.
Our house sparrows (imported) are in serious decline. I miss them.
You can have some of mine. My yard and feeder is overrun by them – all year long.
Well Ron, I’m very glad you shared your series of this beautiful Canada Goose. I would have even enjoyed the photo bombs. I do remember a Lighthouse trip and we were in a small park on Long Island. I had gotten out of the car to see 2 Canada Goose when all of sudden I happened to look up nd about 6 more of them were running towards me. Boy did I get back in the the car fast!! I’m sure they were used to being fed. And in those days we didn’t know that feeding them bread was very bad for them!!
Jo Ann, while I was at the pond yesterday a lady and her 4 little kids walked up behind my pickup and I heard her telling her kids that feeding bread to the ducks was “bad for them”. I almost thanked her for doing it.