Snow geese take to the wing from a fallow farm field.
Volume and Density Make Snow Goose Migration One of America's Most Significant Wildlife Spectacles
In February, serene swaths of pine and farm fields line the road to Chestertown (where the Saturday morning outdoor farmer’s market turns food shopping into an excursion), but rounding the bend, a sudden swirling blizzard of geese—1,000, no 10,000 flapping wings and bicycle horn toots—pulls passersby roadside, captivated by a phenomenon of sight and sound rooted in the sheer density of the flock.
While many birds migrate at night, snow geese travel in noisy, daytime flocks that number in the tens of thousands. The Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area in Pennsylvania recorded a stopover flock of 200,000! In late February and early March, geese traveling along the Atlantic flyway from wintering homes as far south as North Carolina rest and feed on farm fields and conservation lands on Maryland’s Eastern Shore joining local flocks before resuming the journey to Arctic breeding grounds some 3,000 miles away in an enormous migration—sometimes numbering over 750,000 birds!
Birds overwintering on the Delmarva peninsula populate tidal marshes, agricultural fields, and bays in established locations including farm fields in Cecil, Kent, Queen Anne and Dorchester counties, the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge in Cambridge, Eastern Neck National Wildlife Refuge in Rock Hall, Prime Hook and Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuges in Delaware, and near Ocean City on Assawoman Bay and Assateague Island.
The unparalleled audiovisual combination of frenzied flapping wings and high-pitched honks is truly one of America’s most significant wildlife spectacles.
Snow Goose Tidbits
Hunting pressure significantly affects snow geese behavior causing them to change their daily movement patterns and altering their feeding habits. The high volume of hunting pressure on Maryland's Eastern Shore, a major wintering ground, means that these birds often move more throughout the day and feed at night. Temporary, portable blinds placed on dry land on privately owned farms generally do not require a specific state license, but hunters must still follow state hunting regulations.