Each spring, usually around the last week of February or so the small farming town of Corinne, Utah begins its annual calling of host to thousands of migrating snow geese looking for a meal and a few weeks rest.
Oh, it’s a small and inconspicuous flock at first, consisting of just a few hundred road-weary snow geese that eventually builds over the next month to several thousand birds or more.
At its peak, the migrating snow geese in Corinne, Utah is quite a bird-watching spectacle to behold as endless flocks of birds take to the sky, both morning and evening in search of a local field to feed in.
But this annual migratory show doesn’t normally kick off until late February when the geese typically begin their annual arrival, until now that is.
Today, and much to my surprise, I was privy to several hundred early migrating snow geese making their way to a waste cornfield in the town of Corinne, just a couple miles north of the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.
It’s early, no, it is way early for me to be seeing snow geese up by the Bear River Bird Refuge but with all the odd bird sightings I have been seeing the past couple of years, nothing amazes me anymore as I am learning to expect the unexpected.
The snow geese, possibly numbering around 250 birds or more, circled a waste cornfield for nearly 20 minutes, obviously wary of a solitary bald eagle perched on a telephone pole nearby.
But after the bald eagle left, the geese finally settled in and landed in the distant field for a spell.
Late March is the best time to come to Corinne and view the migrating snow geese.
By then the goose hunt is over the snow geese will have not only settled down a bit but their numbers usually peak around the last couple of weeks in March as well, making for quite a show for the avid bird watcher.
As time goes on, I will keep tabs on the snow geese and post updates on any progress they show with regards to any influx of numbers of birds and their general whereabouts.
During the day, the snow geese roost on the wetlands between the Bear River Club, a private duck hunting preserve, and the northeast corner of the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.
Unfortunately, due to the remoteness of their chosen traditional roosting location, viewing the snow geese during the day is nearly impossible but the geese typically get up and feed most mornings and evenings and are oftentimes in a roadside field in Corinne on display.
As an added bird watching bonus, while I was following the snow geese to their cornfield of choice, I noticed the flock of trumpeter swans I have been watching all winter are still in town as well.
I was torn on which out-of-season birds I wanted to pay the most attention to as the wintering trumpeter swans are also way out of their element by staying here all winter it seems.
Either way, having both trumpeter swans and snow geese hanging around the farming areas near the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge is a bird watcher’s delight and one I am going to enjoy for as long as it lasts.
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