Can you count them all?

 Here you go!

I will give you three photos....

do you even want to venture a guess

as to how many Snow Geese are in any single picture?

Not great pics, etc...but have to show anyway....

These are from today...

I only tried a few times to capture them in flight..

The above is a cropped version of the pic...notice the pair of Snow Geese at the lower left .

I know this pic is a mess, but it gives the feel of watching them.  There was a lot of White-fronted geese, too.

If that is not enough, watch this.  It is an even bigger mess....and turn your volume down.  There is constant beeping is because I left the keys in the car but had the door open.

This below is really making me wish I had a better way of recording things like this.

Lines from a poem

A haze on the far horizon,

The infinite, tender sky,

The ripe rich tint of the cornfields,

And the wild geese sailing high --

And all over upland and lowland

The charm of the golden-rod --

Some of us call it Autumn

And others call it God.

-William Herbert Carruth-

Born on the Bayou

A mama on her nest....

I always love turtles on a log...

Just a little bit closer

Love this place...

I love dragonflies...I did not know there was such a variety till I started blogging.

Thought it would be fun to share a few from the backwaters here...

Swamp area....

This is one of my favorite spots on earth...I just wish it was closer to home.  Though it is only about 25-30 minutes away....still its not a place I  can just go pop by.  This view looks north....don't know why I don't take one looking south, because it is on both sides of the road.  The road runs through it, just barely big enough for two cars to pass.  We seldom see more than one car while there.

All the way across there were geese....they were so far I couldn't tell what they are till I zoomed in with my camera.

There were two different pairs...

Canada Geese

Now you see them....

Now you don't!

From the strip pit area

Fresh from the strip pit area west of here:


Not the best quality...my videos never are.  Still it gives you a feel for what we were seeing.  And this does not do it justice at all.  This is zoomed in....I wish I had started out at normal vision to give you a feel for the size of the place but I will include some pics below.  This is not very long....so it won't take up a lot of time.

How would you like to attempt to count them?  Keep in mind that you are not seeing all the way to the other end.  This strip pit is really long....I thought close to a mile, but then on second thoughts it probably isn't that long.  There are brush/bushes at the end and I cannot get a clear shot through them.  My little P&S camera lacks to capability to set a focus point, and always wants to focus on the brush.

Anyway, the other end was a solid mass of white.  Or appeared that way from the end I was at.

What a sight they were....

I hope you have enjoyed these.

If I can keep it in mind, I will be linking to I'd Rather B Birdin'....also, there are at least a couple more photos over at my Pics & Pieces ....

Shooting blind...sort of

It was almost middle of the day when we happened to drive through the strip pit area.  So, I am shooting with my little point and shoot and cannot see the screen...I am just aiming and hoping for a decent result.   The one above, I got a glimpse, but only guessed and shot.   The ones below are totally blind shots.  I would have a better chance of reading in the dark than seeing the screen...

Not too bad...for not seeing what I was shooting...

I was happier with this one.  Look toward the horizon...all those geese on the ground.  I think they are mostly white fronted geese, but not sure.  I think there are some Canada geese mixed in.

This last photo is a cropped version of the one above it.

From the strip pits, from the yard

We were out at the strip pits late the other evening...I captured a few of the geese.

This is also from the same evening....it was not as dark as this looks...this is just how it turned out...

And this one is from the back yard yesterday afternoon.  We were raking a few leaves.  I always keep an eye on the sky when out in the hopes of seeing something interesting.   Normally it is vultures I see, but there was no mistaking this for a vulture.

White-fronted geese....

 These white-fronted geese were in the pasture with yesterday's cow.

When we first paused there, many were sleeping...many just sitting with their head buried in their back along the bank of this one pond.

This was one of the best times I ever got to view them...then suddenly

Every single one took off in flight and did not return.

We wondered what happened and looked around...a juvenile Bald Eagle was passing through.   I could not get zoomed in on him to get a photograph.  It made me wonder do eagles actually catch geese?  I assume they do but have never seen it happen. 

Put your right foot in....

They look like they are ready to shake it all about...

Just a couple more...this one looks like it is say 'Ehh?  what did you say?' and the one in back is just not listening at all.

And this one is just cruising along....

On his on turf

This was the only creature that cooperated when we went up to the place north of Danville, Illinois...where you go to view herons and bald eagles. This was back when the flooding was going on. We saw herons from a distance and saw a bald eagle or two...not sure if it was two or if it was just the same one in a different place.

And we have take-off!

The geese are really moving through area now...almost any time I am outside, I hear geese overhead. I thought I would run to the strip pits this evening...there were some there on a couple of the ponds, but these were taking off from a cornfield on over in Illinois.

It's time to go to meeting...

I am not sure why, but I like this photo...it is no prize winner but it makes me smile.