On days when it rains the snow geese normally stay in the field feeding all day. You don't get an afternoon flight like on a sunny day. If you are in the right spot you can have small bunches trading around all day and some great snow goose hunting.
In September or October, Canada geese fly south to their “nonbreeding” sites to avoid the cold. They'll stay in their nonbreeding sites all winter. Many of the Canada geese you see this fall and winter actually migrated to get here!
Young geese can fly 42-50 days after hatching. They will migrate south with their parents and remain with them through the return trip to the north the following spring.
The grass and dirt trail is the most paw-friendly of the hikes in the preserve. The best canine hike at Middle Creek is a forging of trails into a triangular circuit south of the Visitor Center with parking along Hopeland Road near the impoundment dam.
They travel from Arctic breeding grounds in Alaska and Canada to wintering grounds in southern United States and northern Mexico. Update: The collars of the following tagged lesser snow geese are no longer functioning: Snow Geese 4,7 and 8.
Natural predators of wild geese species include wolves, eagles, bears, raccoons and foxes. They are usually most vulnerable during their nesting season. Eggs and goslings are more vulnerable than adult geese and have more natural predators.
The Snow Goose is a white-bodied goose with black wingtips that are barely visible on the ground but noticeable in flight. In flight, they are steady on the wing with even wingbeats.
They often mix with Canada Geese. The other possibility is a Snow Goose which has a minor injury, not enough to stop it flying, but enough to stop it migrating all the way up to the Arctic. To tell a white domestic goose from a Snow Goose, look at the wingtips: all-white = domestic, black tips = Snow Goose.
Also, snow geese are aggressive feeders. Watch a flock in a field, and you might notice the birds moving in a general direction.
Adult snow geese are some of the toughest quarry to kill. You're hunting birds that can be over 20 years old. They have seen it all, season after season. And since snows can be hunted around 10 months out of the year, and are pursued more than most game whose seasons are short in comparison, they are extremely wary.
Lesser snow geese have two color phases: a dark (blue) plumage and a white (snow) plumage. The two color phases are variations within the same race and do not indicate separate races. The sexes are similar in appearance in both phases, but the female is often smaller.
Both can be excellent eating — in some cases even better than the fabled whitefront goose. In the case of waterfowl, this is obvious: Eat a plucked, roasted scoter and then eat a plucked, roasted wood duck and you tell me which you like better. Well, snow geese fit the bill.
Washington offers a wide variety of waterfowl hunting options, ranging from deep saltwater areas to dry land agricultural fields. The many types of habitat in the state support opportunities for waterfowl ranging from mallards, Canada geese, and snow geese to sea ducks and brant.
