By Darcy Thomas
Late March provides a magnificent birding opportunity to view hundreds of thousands of snow geese staging at Freezout Lake before flying onward to breeding grounds in the NW Arctic coast of Canada. Freezout Lake Wildlife Management Area is located a few miles south of Choteau, Montana, just east of the Rocky Mountain Front. What a stupendous background to watch massive flocks of geese flying and honking overhead!
Spring migration occurs from mid-March through early May, with peak activity typically occurring the last weekend of March. Flathead Audubon offers an annual overnight field trip to view the Snow Goose migration during its peak.
It’s not difficult to identify a Snow Goose with its white body and black wing tips. Snow Geese are smaller than swans with shorter necks. They sport a pink bill with a thick black line known as a “grinning patch.” You may also spot a Ross’s Goose, which is similarly marked, but smaller, usually whiter, and has a daintier bill with a thinner “grinning patch.” When looking with binoculars over the huge flocks, you can sometimes spot a blue morph, a Snow Goose with a mostly blue body and white head. The blue color is controlled by a single gene that is dominant over white.
Snow Geese are notoriously loud waterfowl. Their primary call is a nasally honk, which both male and female geese make day or night, year round. In flight, they also quack and make shrill cries. Look for a sentry goose during winter and migration that is apart from the flock, keeping an eye out for eagles and other predators. Watch the entire flock ascend in a cacophony if a threat is announced. Fast on their feet, they can even outrun most predators!
During migration, Snow Geese roost on the water of lakes, large marshes, slow-moving rivers, and other wetland complexes like Freezout during the night. At dawn, they take off in impressive and raucous flight to forage in harvested fields of barley and winter wheat, returning to the water again in the evening. They are easy to locate, as the sound of their honking will lead right to the flock.
Whether you join Flathead Audubon on our annual field trip to Freezout or go on your own, you will be certain to enjoy the magnificent spectacle of the migrating Snow Goose.
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