iN PHOTOS: Migrating snow geese pause on property near Kamloops

A flock of snow geese landed on a pond in a rural neighbourhood in Cherry Creek just west of Kamloops earlier this week, and resident Victoria Baerg was able to photograph the birds on the ground and later as they did a flyby over her property.

“My neighbour has a five-acre pond which is visited by different duck species. Canada geese nest there and trumpeter swans stop by as well,” she said. “I noticed quite a group of white birds on the pond and initially thought they were swans.”

Baerg took a photo of the birds and zoomed in to see the birds were snow geese.  

“I haven’t seen them here in my almost nine years of living here,” she said. “I was able to walk quite near to get decent shots and they were not terribly bothered by me or my dog, they only made soft honking sounds.”

The flock dispersed when a couple of eagles flew around them, but came flapping past the property later that afternoon. Baerg hurried to grab her camera and ran onto the porch to capture the snowy white spectacle.

“I’m not sure how long they’re here for as they’re on their way north to their nesting grounds, but I’m happy I had the chance to see them,” Baerg said.

Every spring, flocks of snow geese can be spotted in skies over the BC Interior on route from the southern United States and Mexico to breeding grounds in Alaska and northern Canada, according to Birdfact, timing their arrival to coincide with melting snow and thawing ice.

The birds typically begin the spring migration by mid to late winter and arrive at the breeding grounds by the end of spring. The large flocks are a stunning sight to see with snowy white plumage and black-tipped wings.