It was another spectacular morning at Eagle Bluffs Conservation Area today; the sky was clear, the air was cool and both raptors and waterfowl were abundant. Joining the wide variety of ducks were hundreds of American white pelicans, small groups of Canada and snow geese and a large flock of greater white-fronted geese.
Breeding across the Arctic tundra of Alaska and Canada, greater white fronted geese winter along the Gulf Coast, from Louisiana to Mexico, and along the Pacific Coast from Oregon to Mexico; a Greenland subspecies usually winters in the British Isles but may turn up along the Atlantic Coast of the U.S. Another subspecies, known as tule geese, breed in Alaska and winter in marshlands from Oregon to California.
Migrant flocks of greater white-fronted geese, often numbering in the thousands, are usually found west of the Mississippi Valley; there they stop to rest and feed on wetlands and crop fields and, from a distance, may be mistaken for Canada geese. Slimmer and more agile in flight than their Canadian cousins, white-fronts have a higher pitched call, pinkish bills, orange legs and feet and a distinctive white band at the base of their bill. Like most geese, these hardy migrants mate for life and often remain in family groups for a year or more. For some reason, much to the delight of myself and other regional birders, greater white-fronted geese and American white pelicans have become abundant migrants at Eagle Bluffs over the past few years; let's hope that trend continues!
