"This morning I stopped to watch the geese fly, even though I didn’t have the time to do so. And I realized that not having the time to do something might be the very reason why I need to do it."
― Craig D. Lounsbrough
Ya gotta love Greater White-fronted Geese. These birds winter in Texas, Louisiana, Mexico, and Central America (there's a west coast population as well), and then migrate all the way up to Alaska and Northern Canada to breed ― a 6,000 mile trip for many of them. The window they can be observed during spring migration in Wisconsin is a bit on the narrow side, so they're easy to miss.
Along with Canada Geese, the Specklebellies were hanging around various ponds and cut cornfields in northern Dane County yesterday. They were a little apprehensive when I first showed up, but quickly settled down once they realized I didn't pose a threat. I didn't observe any Snow Geese, but I was fortunate to catch a flyover flock of them on my way to work one day last week.
I'll bet some of you are grateful to see more bird posts again, right? Well, it is spring migration, after all. What will likely happen though is I'll ditch birding once the first tiger beetles emerge! We'll just have to see how I sort out my nature proclivities. Are you familiar with the Free Will conundrum? Our brains are made up of molecules; those molecules must obey the laws of physics; our decisions derive from brain activity. I'm a bit of a determinist ― I'll just wait and see what I do.
Anyway, more photos ...
A little less cluttered composition near a pond's edge ...
All images © 2022 Mike McDowell