Snow Goose Photos

Photography by Terry Sohl

My Favorite: A ritual of spring, and one of the most encouraging signs that a long South Dakota winter may finally be coming to an end, are the often endless streams of Snow Geese that are migrating northward through the state. From a photo perspective, they can be tough to shoot! With massive migratory flocks that are often in the thousands, it's hard to capture the scale in one photo. On the other hand, given the hunting pressure on these guys, they're typically difficult to get close to for more intimate shots.

But...I'm not proud! I'll take a photo any way I can get it (as long as it's safe for me and the bird). Sometimes one of those migrating birds is injured, or starts to hang around the ever present hoards of Canada Geese that are oh so common in city parks and ponds. And often, those birds are much more tame than your typical snow goose. The Snow Goose photos from Arrowhead Park in Sioux Falls represent some of those photo opportunities you normally don't get of a species. My favorite photo of the species is the pair below, taken in November near Yankton, South Dakota.

Snow Goose - Chen caerulescens


Snow Goose 1 March 12th, 2003 Platte River, Nebraska	Snow Goose 2 November 17th, 2002 Gavin's Point Dam, near Yankton, S.Dakota	Snow Goose 3 November 20th, 2005 Arrowhead Park, near Sioux Falls, S.Dakota	Snow Goose 4 May 9th, 2004 Arrowhead Park near Sioux Falls, S.Dakota

Snow Goose 5 May 9th, 2004 Arrowhead Park near Sioux Falls, S.Dakota	Snow Goose 6 May 9th, 2004 Arrowhead Park near Sioux Falls, S.Dakota	Snow Goose 7 May 8th, 2005 Arrowhead Park near Sioux Falls, S.Dakota	Snow Goose 8 June 8th, 2005 Arrowhead Park near Sioux Falls, S.Dakota

Snow Goose 9 March 22nd, 2006 Minnehaha County, South Dakota	Snow Goose 10 November 15th, 2020 Yankton, South Dakota	Snow Goose 11 November 15th, 2020 Yankton, South Dakota	Snow Goose 12 April 7th, 2018 Western Minnehaha County, South Dakota

Snow Goose 13 April 1st, 2017 Western Minnehaha County, South Dakota