Reminder: I will be speaking at the Picturing 9 conference in Brainerd on Natural Light Portraiture. I’m looking forward to meeting new people and attending the other workshops as well!

There’s a wide area in the South Fork Zumbro River about a mile north of downtown Rochester called Silver Lake. A nearby power company uses it for cooling, which means parts of it stay open all winter. This open water invites a large flock of Canada Geese, along with other waterfowl, to spend their winters there, instead of flying south.

I have mixed feelings about Canada Geese. If you just look at them, they are breathtaking creatures. But when you know that they are smelly, dirty, and a nuisance to many, it has a tendency to blur your vision of their beauty. I guess beauty still wins for me.

My parent have retired in Rochester and I recently spent the weekend with them. On Sunday, it was sunny and warm and I was itching to take my camera out to enjoy the nice weather (it’s been cooped up almost all winter, you know!), so we headed down to Silver Lake.

I shot all of these with my Canon 70-200 2.8 lens with a 1.4 teleconverter on it, extending my reach to 280mm.

The guy on the right seems to be saying “Um, guys, I’m outta here!” Yes, I love giving voice to animals. It’s a hobby of sorts. :)

I think this guy is quite handsome.

Nice saunter…

Geese do this thing where they stand on one leg and tuck the other way up in their underbelly. The funny thing is, they don’t usually lean over to one side to compensate, so they must have really good balance.

I’m no nature photographer, but this has to be one of my best waterfowl photos ever.

I can’t imagine how cold that water must be.

These two were coming in for a landing. The one on the left is mid-honk – check out his tongue!!

Behind our house sits a scenic wetland and pond (one of my favorite things about living here). During the winter, there isn’t much activity except for a few small birds and other varmints.

But this morning, I looked out to see these geese standing around on the pond. It was as if they were a couple house hunting, looking for the right pond to settle into for the spring and summer. The other two must have been the realtors. ;-) After a few minutes, they all started to honk, perhaps saying to one another, “this is nice, but let’s see what else is out there.” Then they all flew off.

I’m glad they’re back. It means spring is just around the corner!