Where Are the Geese?

The most frequently asked question at the Hagerman NWR Visitor Center these days is “Where are the geese?”

Each winter the Refuge is known for huge flocks of Snow and Ross’s geese who come thousands of miles to enjoy warmer weather and abundant food.  However, taking center stage for the past several years is drought, and in 2013, adding insult to injury, a week of ice in early December.

Snow Geese in Flight, by Rick Cantu

In the fall, the Refuge planted 300 acres of wheat for green browse for the geese; as soon as they arrived they literally “mowed” it down and with little to no fall rain, the wheat did not continue growing.

According to data from eBird, the all-time high reported number of Snow geese was 10,000, on November 15, 1994.  For Ross’s, 5,000 were reported on December 15, 2009, for the all-time high.

These days visitors are most likely to see the geese flying in or out of the Refuge or resting in the lake between forays to area farms; they return to the lake each evening to spend the night, safe from predators.

These numbers from Jack Chiles’ Weekly Bird Survey tell the story for the 2014-15 winter:

Large numbers of geese first showed up for last fall on November 11, 2014:

Snow Goose  1

Ross's Goose  1
Snow/Ross's Goose  1500

November 18, 2014

Snow Goose  200
Ross's Goose  200
Snow/Ross's Goose  5000

November 25, 2014

Snow Goose  200
Ross's Goose  200
Snow/Ross's Goose  4600

December 2, 2014

Snow Goose  200
Ross's Goose  200
Snow/Ross's Goose  5000 

December 9, 2014

Snow Goose  150
Ross's Goose  2200
Snow/Ross's Goose  2650

December 16, 2014

Snow Goose  450
Ross's Goose  450
Snow/Ross's Goose  4100

December 23, 2014

Snow Goose  50
Ross's Goose  40
Snow/Ross's Goose  3000

December 30, 2014

Snow Goose  142
Ross's Goose  135
Snow/Ross's Goose  7 

January 6, 2015

Snow Goose  1
Ross's Goose  1
Snow/Ross's Goose  60

January 13, 2015

There were about 3500 white geese on the lake at noon.