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75 images of Snow Geese and Ross’s Geese, including close portraits, close flight portraits, and Flight Studies taken between sunrise and mid-day.
See the Flight and Morning Flyout and Evening Fly-in pages for more Flight Scenes.
Click an image to open a larger version. Use your back button to return to this page.
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Flight Portraits and Flight Portraits
Morning Flyout and Evening Fly-in
Flock Scenes Snow Goose Scenics
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Images in this section are in a number of different Galleries on the Photoshelter website. The Banner below leads to the Snow Goose Collection where a Gallery can be selected.
There are 5 Galleries in the Photoshelter Snow Goose Collection
Direct Links:
Snow Geese in Flight Flyout and Fly-in
Portraits and Flight Portraits
Flock Scenes Snow Goose Scenics
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Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge near Socorro, New Mexico is located at 5000 feet on the western arm of the Central Flyway, the migration route on the eastern side of the Rocky Mountains.
Bosque del Apache is a wintering site for over 12,000 Sandhill Cranes and over 30,000 Snow Geese, plus Eagles, Hawks, Falcons, Egrets, Herons, waterfowl, shorebirds, deer, coyotes, and other wildlife. Bosque del Apache in the winter is one of the most fascinating wildlife locations in the United States.
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Snow Geese at Sunrise 6448
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Snow Geese at Sunrise 6452
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500mm telephoto close portraits of Snow Geese one minute before and at the moment of sunrise.
Snow Geese at Sunrise 6450
Snow Geese bathe in the golden glow at the moment of sunrise on a cold morning at Bosque del Apache.
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Snow Geese at Sunrise X8748 M
Snow Geese are backlit by the rising sun on a cold morning in December at Bosque del Apache, NM.
All of the landscape (horizontal) large version images linked from the thumbnails are 1500 pixels wide. Portrait (vertical) images are 1200 pixels tall (1290 pixels with title bar). Images designated with an “M” in the shot number are 5:4 aspect ratio, 1500 x 1290 with a title bar, or 1500 x 1200 without a title bar.
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Snow Goose 1780 M
A Snow Goose stands for a portrait alongside the marsh at Bosque del Apache.
Snow Geese are among the most populous birds in North America, and gather in huge flocks. They breed in colonies in the arctic and subarctic tundra of Canada and north Alaska, migrating distances of more than 3000 miles in the spring and fall. Lesser Snow Geese migrate down the Pacific and Central Flyways to wintering areas in the Great Plains, Texas, New Mexico, Mexico and California (Greater Snow Geese winter along the mid-Atlantic coast and the Carolinas).
Snow Geese have been divided into two subspecies based on size and geography, but size overlap has caused some experts to question the division into Lesser and Greater.
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Snow Goose 1784 M
A 420mm telephoto oblique portrait of a Snow Goose beside the marsh at Bosque del Apache. Note the rosy-red legs and feet and the black “grin-patch” or “lips” on the cutting edge of the bill.
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Snow Goose 1791
A Snow Goose swimming in a canal at Bosque del Apache Wildlife Refuge in New Mexico.
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Snow Goose 1795c
A 420mm telephoto frontal close-portrait of a Snow Goose at Bosque del Apache, NM.
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Snow Goose X3760 M
A 500mm telephoto profile portrait of a Snow Goose in a field at Bosque del Apache Wildlife Refuge.
The rest of the portraits which are shown below on this page are telephoto closeups taken in flight.
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Images in this section are in a number of different Galleries on the Photoshelter website. The Banner below leads to the Snow Goose Collection where a Gallery can be selected.
There are 5 Galleries in the Photoshelter Snow Goose Collection
Direct Links:
Snow Geese in Flight Flyout and Fly-in
Portraits and Flight Portraits
Flock Scenes Snow Goose Scenics
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Snow Goose at Sunrise 4540
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Ross's Goose at Sunrise 5564
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500mm telephoto flight portraits of a Snow Goose and a Ross’s Goose at sunrise over Bosque del Apache.
Ross’s Geese are about 40% smaller than Snow Geese, with a bill that is smaller in proportion to its body size and without the black “lips” (the “grin patch” on the cutting edges of the bill). Ross's Geese have a shorter neck and a steeper, higher forehead than Snow Geese, creating a more rounded head shape on the Ross's Goose.
Ross’s Geese flock with Snow Geese and occasionally interbreed with them. These hybrids are fertile, and have intermediate characteristics (neck and bill lengths with a shallower and lighter grin patch (lips).
Snow Goose at Sunrise 4010
A series of 500mm head-on close portraits of a Snow Goose in flight at sunrise over Bosque del Apache.
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Snow Goose at Sunrise 4009
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Snow Goose at Sunrise 4011
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Head-on flight shots are even more difficult than other flight shots with Snow Geese. Cameras use contrast to achieve a focus lock, and the white bodies of the geese do not offer much contrast. Add rapid motion towards the camera and the shot becomes difficult.
In this case, shadows under the leading edge of the wing provided contrast for a focus lock.
Snow Goose Flight Study 4007-11 SXL
A 1500 x 1092 version of the SXL Composite (4288 x 2975) showing wing positions of a Snow Goose in head-on flight, traveling to the farm fields at Bosque del Apache at sunrise.
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Snow Goose at Sunrise 4103
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Snow Goose at Sunrise 4104
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500mm oblique close portraits of a Snow Goose in flight at sunrise over Bosque del Apache Wildlife Refuge.
Snow Goose at Sunrise 4105
A Snow Goose reflects the golden light of sunrise in this 500mm telephoto close flight portrait.
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Snow Goose Flight Study 4103-05 SXL
A 1500 x 930 version of the SXL Composite (4288 x 2550) showing wing positions of a Snow Goose in flight out to the farm fields at sunrise.
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Snow Goose at Sunrise 4088
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Snow Goose at Sunrise 4110
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Snow Geese feed in grain fields during the winter. At Bosque del Apache, farm fields are maintained near the wetlands that the geese and cranes use for overnight refuge, and each morning thousands of geese and cranes fly out to the farm fields to feed on grain grown each summer for the wintering birds.
Snow Goose at Sunrise 4117
A 500mm oblique close portrait of a Snow Goose in flight at sunrise over Bosque del Apache Wildlife Refuge.
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Images in this section are in a number of different Galleries on the Photoshelter website. The Banner below leads to the Snow Goose Collection where a Gallery can be selected.
There are 5 Galleries in the Photoshelter Snow Goose Collection
Direct Links:
Snow Geese in Flight Flyout and Fly-in
Portraits and Flight Portraits
Flock Scenes Snow Goose Scenics
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Snow Geese at Sunrise 3658
A group of Snow Geese at sunrise, as a dark storm cloud rolls into Bosque del Apache from the northwest. The dark clouds in the background make achieving an accurate exposure on the white geese quite difficult.
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Snow Goose at Sunrise 3696
A 500mm telephoto close portrait of a Snow Goose in flight to the Bosque del Apache farm fields at sunrise.
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Snow Goose at Sunrise 3697
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Snow Goose at Sunrise 3699
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Flight portraits of a snow goose at sunrise on a stormy day over Bosque del Apache. The light of the rising sun entered through a fortuitous gap above the eastern horizon.
Snow Goose at Sunrise 4672
A 500mm close portrait of an individual in a group of Snow Geese heading for the farm fields at sunrise.
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Snow Goose at Sunrise 6453 M
A head-on flight portrait of a Snow Goose at sunrise over Bosque del Apache, NM.
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Snow Goose at Sunrise 6454 16x9
A 500mm head-on flight portrait of a Snow Goose over Bosque del Apache.
The wing span of the Snow Goose is between 53 and 65 inches (135-165 cm).
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Images in this section are in a number of different Galleries on the Photoshelter website. The Banner below leads to the Snow Goose Collection where a Gallery can be selected.
There are 5 Galleries in the Photoshelter Snow Goose Collection
Direct Links:
Snow Geese in Flight Flyout and Fly-in
Portraits and Flight Portraits
Flock Scenes Snow Goose Scenics
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Snow Goose at Sunrise 4152
A 500mm extreme telephoto closeup of a Snow Goose flying directly toward the camera at sunrise.
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Snow Goose at Sunrise 4675
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Snow Goose at Sunrise 4678
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500mm head-on telephoto flight portraits of a Snow Goose in the reddish-gold light at the moment of sunrise on a crisp morning in mid-December at Bosque del Apache.
Snow Goose at Sunrise 4677
A Snow Goose flies to the farm fields at the moment of sunrise at Bosque del Apache. A composite of these three head-on flight portraits is shown further down on this page.
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Snow Goose at Sunrise 4728
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Snow Goose at Sunrise 5577
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500mm profile, oblique and frontal flight portraits of Snow Geese at sunrise over Bosque del Apache.
Snow Goose at Sunrise 4742
The images above and below show two of the classic wing positions of a Snow Goose in flight directly towards the camera at sunrise over Bosque del Apache Wildlife Refuge.
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Snow Goose at Sunrise 4743
A 500mm head-on flight portrait of a Snow Goose at sunrise over Bosque del Apache.
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Snow Goose at Sunrise 4158
An oblique portrait of a Snow Goose at sunrise flying out to the farm fields at Bosque del Apache.
Snow Geese feed on the fallow corn in the farm fields as well as grasses in the marshes.
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Images in this section are in a number of different Galleries on the Photoshelter website. The Banner below leads to the Snow Goose Collection where a Gallery can be selected.
There are 5 Galleries in the Photoshelter Snow Goose Collection
Direct Links:
Snow Geese in Flight Flyout and Fly-in
Portraits and Flight Portraits
Flock Scenes Snow Goose Scenics
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Snow Goose at Sunrise 4124
A 500mm oblique close portrait of a juvenile Snow Goose in flight over Bosque del Apache at sunrise.
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Snow Goose at Sunrise 4125
Detail of the underwing coverts of a juvenile Snow Goose in flight at sunrise over Bosque del Apache.
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Snow Goose at Sunrise 4736
An oblique head-on flight portrait showing the rectangular-shaped frontal aspect of the head of a Snow Goose.
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Snow Goose at Sunrise 4737
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Snow Goose at Sunrise 4738
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Snow Goose Flight Study 4736-38 SXL
A 1500 x 1092 version of the SXL Composite (4288 x 2975) showing three wing positions of a Snow Goose in oblique head-on flight at sunrise over Bosque del Apache Wildlife Refuge, NM.
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Snow Goose Flight Study 4675-77-78 SXL
A 1500 x 1092 version of the SXL Composite (4288 x 2975) showing three wing positions of a Snow Goose in head-on flight at sunrise over Bosque del Apache Wildlife Refuge, NM.
Individual images in this series are shown further above on this page.
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Snow Goose Flight Study 6718-19 16x9 SXL
A 1600 x 990 version of the SXL Composite (4288 x 2550) showing wing positions of a Snow Goose in flight over the farm fields at Bosque del Apache in the late afternoon.
Individual images in this series are shown further below on this page.
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Images in this section are in a number of different Galleries on the Photoshelter website. The Banner below leads to the Snow Goose Collection where a Gallery can be selected.
There are 5 Galleries in the Photoshelter Snow Goose Collection
Direct Links:
Snow Geese in Flight Flyout and Fly-in
Portraits and Flight Portraits
Flock Scenes Snow Goose Scenics
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Snow Geese White and Blue Morphs X0867 M
The two color phases of the Snow Goose are shown in this flight portrait taken in the early morning. White morph geese fly to the right of and above a blue morph goose, defocused in the background.
White morph snow geese are far more numerous than the dark phase (blue morph) geese. The two color phases were once thought to be different species, but as they interbreed and are found together throughout their ranges, they are now considered to be two color phases of the same species. The offspring of interbred light and dark phase birds can be of either morph (the dark phase is the result of a single dominant gene).
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Snow Goose Blue Morph at Dawn 4413
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Snow Goose Blue Morph at Dawn 4416
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An adult blue morph Snow Goose in flight at dawn over the marshes at Bosque del Apache, NM.
Snow Goose Blue Morph at Dawn 4414
A 500mm telephoto portrait of an adult blue morph Snow Goose in flight at dawn over Bosque del Apache.
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Snow Goose Blue Morph Dawn Flight Study XXL
A 1600 x 990 version of the XXL Composite (6000 x 3500) showing three wing positions of an adult blue morph Snow Goose in flight at dawn over Bosque del Apache, New Mexico.
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Snow Goose Blue Morph at Sunrise 4540 M
An adult blue morph Snow Goose in flight at sunrise over Bosque del Apache Wildlife Refuge.
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Ross's Geese in Flight 2240
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Snow Goose Juvenile 2227
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Ross’s Geese and a juvenile Snow Goose over the farm fields at Bosque del Apache in the early afternoon.
Notice the shorter necks, rounder heads and the stubbier bills of the Ross’s Geese in the left image above.
Snow Goose in Flight 2987
A Snow Goose in head-on flight over Bosque del Apache in the mid-afternoon.
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Snow Goose in Flight 6718
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Snow Goose in Flight 6719
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Front quarter obliques of a Snow Goose in flight in the late afternoon. A composite of these images is displayed further above on this page.
Snow Goose in Flight 6720
A 500mm telephoto close portrait of a Snow Goose in flight in the late afternoon at Bosque del Apache.
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Images in this section are in a number of different Galleries on the Photoshelter website. The Banner below leads to the Snow Goose Collection where a Gallery can be selected.
There are 5 Galleries in the Photoshelter Snow Goose Collection
Direct Links:
Snow Geese in Flight Flyout and Fly-in
Portraits and Flight Portraits
Flock Scenes Snow Goose Scenics
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Ross's Goose in Flight 2134
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Ross's Goose in Flight 2135
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A hybrid of a Ross’s Goose and Snow Goose in a late afternoon flight over Bosque del Apache. This bird exhibits the shorter neck along with a longer bill with a shallow, less defined grin patch, showing intermediate structural characteristics of both the Ross’s Goose and the Snow Goose.
Ross’s Geese flock with Snow Geese and occasionally interbreed with them. These hybrids are fertile, and have intermediate characteristics (neck and bill lengths with a shallower and lighter grin patch (lips).
Ross's Goose in Flight 2989
A 700mm telephoto flight portrait of a Snow Goose in the late afternoon at Bosque del Apache, NM.
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Snow Goose in Flight 2218
A 420mm telephoto close portrait of a Snow Goose in flight in the early afternoon.
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Snow Goose in Flight 2225
A Snow Goose banks overhead while flying over the farm fields in the early afternoon.
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Snow Goose in Flight 2230
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Snow Goose in Flight 2236
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Two side angle early afternoon flight portraits taken at 420mm over the farm fields at Bosque del Apache.
Snow Goose Morning Flight X0847
A 300mm head-on flight portrait taken just after sunrise at Bosque del Apache Wildlife Refuge.
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Snow Goose Morning Flight X0850 16x9
An extremely difficult head-on flight portrait taken at 300mm just after sunrise. Normally, it is a good idea to lock focus on the head of a Snow Goose in flight, but the softly lit bird and the color of the sky blended together, requiring that the focus point be shifted to the leading edge of the wing root to use the shadows under the wing for contrast. At f/4, this placed the head just within the focused plane, and I had to carefully track the bird at high speed to get a clean shot.
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Images in this section are in a number of different Galleries on the Photoshelter website. The Banner below leads to the Snow Goose Collection where a Gallery can be selected.
There are 5 Galleries in the Photoshelter Snow Goose Collection
Direct Links:
Snow Geese in Flight Flyout and Fly-in
Portraits and Flight Portraits
Flock Scenes Snow Goose Scenics
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Snow Goose Morning Flight X0865
A 500mm telephoto close portrait of a Snow Goose in flight just after sunrise at Bosque del Apache.
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Snow Goose in Flight X0866
A profile portrait of a Snow Goose in flight in the early morning at Bosque del Apache Wildlife Refuge.
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Snow Goose Morning Flight X0875
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Snow Goose Morning Flight X0876
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A series of 500mm telephoto close portraits of a Snow Goose in flight in the early morning.
A composite flight study made from this series of images is shown below.
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Snow Goose Morning Flight X0877
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Snow Goose Morning Flight X0878
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Snow Goose Flight Study SXXL
A 2000 x 759 version of the SXXL Composite (12000 x 4125) showing wing positions of a Snow Goose in flight towards the farm fields in the early morning at Bosque del Apache.
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Snow Goose Morning Flight X0887
A 500mm early morning close portrait of a Snow Goose in head-on flight over Bosque del Apache.
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Snow Goose Morning Flight X0888
A 500mm frontal oblique of a Snow Goose flying out to the farm fields at Bosque del Apache, New Mexico.
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Images in this section are in a number of different Galleries on the Photoshelter website. The Banner below leads to the Snow Goose Collection where a Gallery can be selected.
There are 5 Galleries in the Photoshelter Snow Goose Collection
Direct Links:
Snow Geese in Flight Flyout and Fly-in
Portraits and Flight Portraits
Flock Scenes Snow Goose Scenics
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Click the Display Composite above to visit the Snow Geese in Flight page
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Click the Display Composite above to visit the Snow Goose Morning Flyout and Evening Fly-in page
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Click the Display Composite above to visit the Snow Goose Flock Scenes and Flight Flurries page
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Click the Display Composite above to visit the Snow Goose Scenics page
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Click the Display Composite above to return to the Snow Geese Overview page
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