Oct 22 (Thu - day 77)
Camano Island, Washington
Weather - cloudy with showers of light rain - temps mild, 50F, 10C



Today was Racine and Carl’s day to get out and shoot the snow geese, the weather had improved over yesterday’s downpour and we were hoping it would hold long enough to get some ‘dry’ shots. The geese were there were by the thousands….so many more had shown up in just two days. There were several fields with 2-3 thousand geese in them and at times the skies looked like they were peppered with geese.



We eased up to a few fields where the geese were hanging out and a few times we managed to get reasonably close to the flocks. The lighting was constantly changing (was that a surprise?) and we adjusted our settings as best we could to try and get that ‘perfect shot’.….perhaps not a reasonable goal today, but we did the best we could. Besides getting some interesting shots of the geese we just enjoyed watching the flocks, the way the geese interacted with each other, and beauty of their flight.



We also found some hawks, eagles, snipes, ducks, and of course Great Blue Herons. Potatoes were being harvested in the area, some fall cabbages remained, but most of the fields were planted in grass. The snow geese winter on the grassy fields of Fir Island, some of the fields are protected for the snow geese, while others are open to the hunters. We talked with a few of the local ‘geese watchers’ and they were pleased to see the size of the flocks and the large number of immature birds this year….a good sign for the continued health of the snow goose population.



We wandered around the Skagit Flats, spotted some chickens and pigmy sheep cavorting around in the sun (it actually shone for a few minutes) and we just enjoyed the flavor and atmosphere of the farmlands.



After a good days shooting we returned to review our photos and ended the day with a few friendly, yet always competitive, games of pinochle. The adventure continues….



To see more of 'The Great Adventure 2009' images click HERE

To see more of our waterfowl images click HERE