Snow Geese

Okay, I recognize Snow Geese can be a bit of a hot topic in Richmond.  These infamous birds travel in large groups for long distances and inevitably arrive hungry.  Richmond is one of their layovers along the way. The flocks land on large areas of green space and even people's lawns to feed on grains and seed.  As you can imagine Snow Geese are especially detrimental to golf course's because the entire economy of a golf course is dependent on having beautiful pastural green space.  Some of the biggest opponents to these feathery pests are Superintendents, Jason and Josh. You very well may have been startled by the sound of Jason or Josh shooting off starter pistols to detract the snow geese from landing on the turf. They are very vigilant at protecting the course. Not the most calming noise though when you're attempting a particularly tricky golf shot but necessary in keeping the greens pristine.

Since no story is one sided, I wanted to learn a bit more about the Snow Geese.  I don't think anyone can argue how impressive the visual of a massive flock of brilliant white birds flying harmoniously through the grey Lower Mainland sky's can be.  The contrast of colours is beautiful and the the sound and scale of birds is outrageous.  It's truly a natural phenomenon at it's grandest and I can't help but stop what I'm doing and stare into the sky when they pass. Okay, you got my attention geese....now what do you have to say for yourself?

It seems that Snow Geese (Chen caerulescens) say a lot and loudly.  There calls can be heard as far as a mile away, sometimes further. The snow geese that travel through Richmond are a flock of Lesser Snow Geese.  The Lesser Snow Geese stand 25-31" high and weigh between 4-6 pounds.   They are the smallest of the two subspecies of Snow Geese.  The specific flock that fly's over Quilchena is called Fraser-Skagit and has numbers of 50,000-100,000.

This flock starts its journey at it's nesting place in Wrangel Island, which is an island just below Helsinki, Finland and above Estonia. I suppose this massive commute across some of the most expansive pieces of land is a true testimony to the quality of the grass here (insert joke here). They arrive in October and populate areas around the Fraser River and the Skagit River Estuary in Washington state, hence the name the Fraser-Skagit flock.  Fortunately for Richmond land owners, they do depart to their Northern home in April.

Much like other birds, Snow Geese seem to be quite loyal.  They return to the place they were hatched to breed and they have the same partner for life.  Each year, the populations of these Snow Geese keep increasing.  So, it's safe to say, you'll be seeing more of these white feathery friends.