A mob of us, growing in size much more slowly than the geese, assembled at Holly and Harvey's at 5:15, and headed out at half-past. By the time we arrived at the refuge, the main parking lot was nearly full, and the overflow are promised to follow soon after.
This is the second year that I have gone, and what a difference in weather! Last year was cloudy and threatening rain. This year we had mostly clear skies and a bit of frost. I think that last year we were also operating on DST, so arrived with plenty of dark to spare. This time, the sky rapidly grew lighter as we walked along the path to prime viewing locations.



There were others in our crew that morning: Harvey, Tony, Eileen and Ken. Sadly, there were some infirmities which kept them from tramping all the way out into the squishy wetlands. But they reported being able to see the show well enough.
As the light grew, there were a few small "warm up" flights that can lull the uninitiated into a sense of disappointment. I know I was feeling let down last year, until the Big Wave arose.

The following videos were taken on my point-and-shoot digital camera, hence the poor image quality. The first video shows the biggest wave of geese.
More of the big wave, with "potty talk" from the crew.
I was following some tundra swans when a mob of geese took off. Sadly, the "amazing sound" I mention wasn't well captured. Just as the geese take off, their wings make a sound that, en masse, sounds like a jet engine.
In this week's North Coast Journal, Holly had a haiku published. This seems to be a good spot to put it so I can remember:
Pause
Eleven swans
following geese northward
white on gray skies




Some day I will go out there for some plein air painting. Honest.
The Bird Nerds: Kristin, Pia, Laura and Holly. On our way back for our post-fly-off brunch.

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