Recently, a local MN birder posted a video showing huge flocks of Greater White-fronted Geese in the sky at Louisville Swamp just south of the Twin Cities metro. This is a species I've not seen since 2016, so with the nice weather today, we decided to give it a try. We'd hiked a long ways without seeing or hearing anything unusual, and in fact I'd taken but a few photos, mostly to double check my settings. When we finally arrived at the Jabs farmstead area, I took off my camera and binoculars and set them on a bench so I could take off my hooded sweatshirt as the temp was creeping up into the mid 60's. With my camera and bins laying on a wooden bench, I wandered around the farmstead looking at ruins of the old limestone buildings. Then suddenly, we heard an unusual call and I looked up to see around 10 large birds flying VERY high overhead. We both knew they were the geese I was looking for, so I rushed back to my camera, only to watch the birds fly out of view 😞 I exclaimed that I was counting those on my annual list regardless, and was very happy to have seen some. But then, our luck turned around rapidly, after we hiked down to the water's edge. Soon, another flock of about 100 appeared, then another, then another, then another! After only 15 minutes or so, there were now many hundreds, if not a thousand or more Greater White-fronted Geese circling overhead. We both observed how they stayed tightly grouped and didn't really form a "V" shaped flock like Canada geese do. And their calls were definitely different as well –more of a high-pitched "laugh" that sounded like "chatter" from such a huge flock. Some of the large flock started to land on the water far to our right so I hoped that maybe later we could catch up with them.
After all the commotion died back a little, we started hiking back the way we'd come from, since this trail doesn't cross the water anymore. On the way, we could hear a fair number of birds still chattering and I decided to cut into the woods towards the sound. Nearing the edge of the rocky cliffs, I could see a few of them in the water down below! I stopped about half way and explained to my wife that if we startle them, it's very likely the entire flock could burst into the air all at once. So we hesitated a little and thought about how to proceed. My wife decided to hang back with the binoculars, and I was going to try inching slowly and quietly towards the edge where I could a better view. Well, sure enough, I didn't get anywhere near the edge when suddenly EVERY SINGLE BIRD including tons of mallards and other ducks exploded upward. That wasn't my plan at all and I felt bad for bumping them, but the sight and sound of this was simply unreal. Turns out there were a LOT more GWF geese down there than we thought, and the sound of them leaving the water was like thunder. I literally felt the sound in my chest, and I swear the ground even shook! We were both in complete awe, and I took the opportunity to move a little closer and sit near the edge and watch. Here, I took a couple of videos with my phone, mostly just to capture the sound. It was just amazing to witness. Soon, some of the geese were flying directly over us and this is when I got some better photos. Even my wife, who's not a birder was enthralled, and we both agreed later that the experience was up there in our top, most awe-inspiring bird observations ever. None of my photos or even the video will do it justice, but it is something we'll both remember vividly. I'll add some additional context to each photo. I think GWFG are more common the further west you go in Minnesota, but we are seeing them now because they are migrating northward to their breeding grounds in far northern Canada and Alaska. Scott County, MN 03/03/24
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