Pelagic Teaser & Sunday Snow Geese, 02/11/24

The big news is that on Saturday I went on a 12 hour pelagic birding trip out of Brooklyn with American Princess Cruises. It was a really good trip, and I will publish a full post in a few days, once I’ve had time to get through the loads of pics I took – it’s incredible how many photos you can take on a trip like that. Meanwhile, here is a teaser – a beautiful Northern Gannet in flight alongside the boat.

~Northern Gannet during American Princess Cruises’ 12-hour Pelagic Birding Trip, 02/10/24.~

As for Sunday, although I was exhausted, I got out for a while in the morning. First thing, I got lucky/unlucky. I joined Kyle Knapp in Warwick to see the ROSS’S GOOSE that he relocated first thing. I was lucky in that the bird stuck around in time for my arrival. I was unlucky because, just moments after my arrival, the Ross’s and all the Canada Geese it has been associating with picked up and flew, so I only got a very brief look at the bird.

~Snow Geese in the black dirt, 02/11/24.~

Later in the morning, I located a large flock of Snow Geese on Pierce Circle in the black dirt. At first I estimated approximately 2,000 birds, but the longer I stayed, I realized it was probably north of 4,000 individuals. I scanned the birds, looking for Ross’s, but I came up empty. It was tough because the birds kept lifting up. In the early afternoon, Ken McDermott, Linda Scrima, and Jeanne Cimorelli did in fact located a Ross’s, nice job by them.

~SNGOs in the BDR, 02/11/24.~
~It’s really cool how many shapes the flock can take in flight – flocking birds, and flocking
Snow Geese in particular, are so fun to photograph and the images are usually pretty interesting. SNGOs in the black dirt, 02/11/24.~
~Snow Geese cruising by. Pierce Circle, 02/11/24.~

6 thoughts on “Pelagic Teaser & Sunday Snow Geese, 02/11/24”

  1. WOW, WOW, WOW….. Great images of those Snow Geese! I would Love to go on a pelagic trip some day…But, I get terribly seasick 🙁 Can’t wait to see your wonderful photos. That Northern Gannet….What a beautiful Bird!
    Thanks for sharing…

    1. Always good to hear from you Patty – hopefully you can enjoy a pelagic vicariously through my post. Matt

  2. Can’t wait to see the photos from the trip. My son and I wanted to do that one yesterday but he couldn’t get off work. Hopefully one day.

  3. Snow Geese, especially in numbers, never fails to impress. And you captured them so well. There is almost an emotional aspect to their grandeur.
    TOM

    1. It’s true Tom, somehow flocks of Snow Geese never get old. Awesome to experience and fun to photograph. Thanks for checking in. Matt

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