As a bird watcher, wouldn’t you agree when those moments of up close and personal birding encounters do present themselves it can oftentimes be quite an exhilarating experience?
I know as an avid bird watcher myself it surely is as I love those uniquely special moments with a bird when they do indeed happen.
Now multiply that moment by 1,000, 2,000, or maybe even 5,000 birds or more all at the same time and you have what can happen when a bird watching trip to view migrating snow geese works out perfectly and the geese are literally just a few short yards away.
I know it might sound like a pipe dream but it’s not, it actually does happen in a rural farming town in northern Utah each spring.
Thousands of snow geese migrate through Utah each February and March and it is quite a spectacle, a noisy one at that if you have ever experienced it in person.
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Take a peek at a video I recorded last March to see what I mean if you’re not familiar with migrating snow geese.
It has become quite a show each year, even to the point where an annual snow goose festival in Delta, Utah has emerged, giving bird watchers willing to drive the long distance to central Utah an opportunity to view thousands of snow geese as they head north for yet another breeding season.
But not many people realize those same snow geese stop over and congregate in Box Elder County, just a few minutes west of Brigham City, Utah each and every spring for a few weeks as well to rest and feed up for the long flight north to the arctic tundra.
The small farming town of Corinne attracts this yearly migration of thousands of snow geese with its abundance of farms to feed in each spring.
Typically twice daily, at first light and about an hour or so before sunset the snow geese take to the air and head out to one of the nearby farms to feed on the leftover grains from the previous farming season.
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This makes for some great snow goose viewing when the geese choose a field that is near a roadway, and that happens quite often I might add.
I have literally been just a few short yards away from thousands of snow geese while photographing from inside my vehicle and about 100 yards away while standing on the side of the road watching thousands of snow geese circle above and casually drop into a nearby grain field to feed.
It doesn’t always happen this way, mind you, as sometimes the snow geese do, unfortunately, pick a field that is out of reach by us bird watchers.
But many times over I do find the snow geese in Corinne are very easy to find and watch during mid to late March when the snow goose hunting season has ended for the year.
As the days progress on and the geese get ready to take to the sky once again, it seems they become less and less worried about spectators and more and more interested in feeding until the day when they head on out and migrate to their next stopping point, somewhere in Idaho from what I understand.
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While in Box Elder County, the snow geese roost during the day on a large private and remote wetland that borders the northeast corner of Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.
This means snow goose viewing is limited to mornings and evenings when they head out to feed in the small town of Corinne, but it is well worth it when you hit it on a day the geese choose a nearby field.
To find the snow geese in Corinne, get there early and watch the sky as small but numerous flocks of snow geese lift off from the wetlands a few miles west of town and head out in search of a suitable field to feed in for the day.
It’s hard to give exact coordinates to the best location to watch for the snow geese as they do take slightly different routes each day while heading out to feed, but sitting along 6800 west about halfway or more to the south before it dead-ends is where I usually start my search.
A mile or more west of 6800 west is where the large private wetland is located the snow geese roost during the day.
The key is to get there before the snow geese take to the sky and watch for and follow the flocks as they head out to feed.
All of the lands are private so stick to the roadways and don’t attempt to trespass if the snow geese are too far away to view on that particular day.
That is just how bird watching goes sometimes, it doesn’t always work out for the best, unfortunately.
But many times over, I find them in fairly easy to very easy viewing locations, especially once the hunting season is over and the snow geese have settled down.
Don’t bother looking for the snow geese during midday, however, they only feed during the morning and evenings and spend the rest of the day on the remote wetlands west of town far out of sight.
If you plan it right and have the time for an extended bird watching trip, the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge auto tour route typically has thousands of tundra swans during the same time the snow geese are in town so during the day is a good time to hit the refuge for swans and morning and/or evening is when to look for the snow geese.
I hope this helps anyone looking for an opportunity to view the snow geese and didn’t want to drive all the way to Delta, Utah to do so.
For reference, Corinne is about an hour’s drive north of downtown Salt Lake City and located a few miles west of Brigham City, Utah.
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