Three or four days ago we received 3 or 4 cm. of snow. It was gentle and fresh.
There was lots of snow to shovel and it was pleasant to be outside. What was extra special were the flocks of geese flying south.
At this time of year we have many local geese flying out to the fields to feed. The ponds have many geese. But these geese meant business. They were fairly high up and flying directly south. These are northern geese. The ice has frozen solid where they have been hanging around. They will fly south until they find bodies of water that are ice free and empty of other geese that they might have to compete with.
Only very small ponds are frozen over here. Anything bigger than my yard is clear of ice.
Now it was pleasant to see these geese fly over , but I know that there are millions more hanging around. The big migration happens when we get the first deep freeze. Temperatures about the minus 20 C will persuade most geese to move south where they will find food and open water. I remember one boxing day when the flights of geese were almost continuous.
We do not have cold temperatures in the forecast so geese will be here for a while. Some geese stay here all winter using spots in the river that don't freeze over.
Sorry! No photos! I have replaced the card in my camera and ready to take photos.
