"Oh, listen. Listen! A sound like a big crowd a good way off, excited and shouting, getting closer. We stand up and scan the empty sky. Suddenly there they are (the geese), a wavering V headed directly over the hilltop, quite low, beating southward down the central flyway and talking as they pass. We stay quiet suspending our human conversation until their garulity fades and their wavering lines are invisible in the sky."
― Wallace Stegner
Previously unpublished images, these dapper Greater White-fronted Geese were photographed near Goose Pond during March of last year, prior to reactivating this blog. Once again, Wisconsin is met with bitterly cold temperatures and fresh snowfall. The current windchill is around -20 and tomorrow morning will be colder still. This birder will probably stay indoors for the weekend and merely catch up on some reading, play my guitar, do a little pre-spring cleaning, perhaps stream some documentaries, and take some naps.
But spring migration is right around the corner and it won't be long before Sandhill Cranes, Red-winged Blackbirds, Eastern Meadowlarks, and other early migrants return to southern Wisconsin. What new content will appear on this blog? I have no set plans but to take each day's opportunities as they come ― if I have my camera with me, there will undoubtedly be tales to tell and new pictures to share.
All images © 2021 Mike McDowell