Finally Green Grass

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Most snow geese have left the area by now. There are some small groups left, though. There is usually an injured bird in the group and it seems the other ones don't leave them behind...yet. They are very approachable and they all just walk away if there is a disturbance. I'm not sure if someone takes care of the injured birds since snow geese are not exactly rare. They seem to have broken wings, maybe from being shot at. This image is full frame.

http://www.pbase.com/axelhi/image/110428481/original.jpg

1D3, 500f4, 1.4x, 1/250s, f/8, EC +0.67, ISO 400

[Randy Stout]

Axel:

Nice exposure, sharpness. I like the detail in the gooses bill. I think the diagonal line, with vertical framing works well.

I wish you had tipped the camera down just a tiny bit to give a little more grass at the bottom, but the message comes through nicely as is.

I appreciate the back story with the picture as well.

Thanks for sharing.

Randy

[Herb Houghton]

Nice details in this shot Axel.

[Jim Poor]

Very nicely handled.

There are bound to be wildlife rehabbers in the area that will come get & rehab the injured birds. Finding them is sometimes a real pain though. I usually have the best luck asking on a birdwatching site for rehabber contact.

[Fabs Forns]

Nice head portrait of the geese and good story to go with it. The bill seems to be peeling?

[denise ippolito]

Axel, Nice details and exposure-the full frame is great! Love the composition.

[Beth Goffe]

Very nicely handled.

There are bound to be wildlife rehabbers in the area that will come get & rehab the injured birds. Finding them is sometimes a real pain though. I usually have the best luck asking on a birdwatching site for rehabber contact.

The Raptor Trust located next to the Great Swamp refuge in NJ might be able to recommend a rehabber. Bobby Horvath on Long Island does a lot of rehabbing as well, he might also be a resource.

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Thanks for the suggestions! The birds are inside a WMA and I hope they have a policy in place what to do with injured birds. Most of the birds are in an area that visitors are not allowed to enter.

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Hi Axel, nice image and (sad) story. It looks like this bird has a vitamine or mineral deficiency, perhaps the cause of the bill peeling. It makes me furious when birds get treated as vermin.

These are wild birds and are not fed. They are just protected in the areas that are fenced up because this area is a major migration stop. There were up to 80,000 snow geese and 4,000 tundra swans. When they leave, there are plenty of hunters in the vicinity waiting for them. I read that the number of snow geese has increased so much that they destroy the habitat in their breeding grounds in northern Canada.

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

NIce portrait Axel. Framing is tops. :)