I really enjoyed Eve Ticknor’s Snow Geese post last week. I loved her photographs first and foremost because I have hoped to witness the Snow Goose migration ever since moving to Essex back in 2006. But so far, no dice. I’ve never had the opportunity. Wave after wave Canada Geese frequent our shores each autumn, but somehow the Snow Goose migration has eluded me. I’m told that they do amass on the northern end of Sandy Beach. I’ll believe it when I see it!

Two years ago I watched Dan Swinton’s Snow Geese video on Borderless North (above).

“Nature has one last show before the season is over, the arrival of the Snow Geese.”

The video provides a beautiful if astonishing (Flocks over 100,000 Snow Geese!?!?) intr0/instruction, and it rekindled my desire to witness the Snow Goose migration. There’s something about the sound and the movement of that many birds, big birds, big white birds… Both Eve Ticknor and Jacob Straub capture the vast numbers of birds in the annual Snow Goose migration, the latter emphasizing the growing population. And yet I’ve failed to spy a simple specimen. Perhaps Essex is not on the flyway for the Snow a Goose migration? Given that both accounts take place at Point au Roche, it looks like my autumn 2015 plans need to include a visit to the northern end of Lake Champlain.

View Snow Geese Migration from Point au Roche

If you’re interested in observing the Snow Geese migration firsthand, consider a spring or autumn visit to Point au Roche State Park, an 825 acre sanctuary located on the northwestern shore of Lake Champlain, near Plattsburgh, New York. “For about two weeks in the spring and fall, birders from near and far flock here to see the thousands of migrating snow geese.” Next fall I plan to be among them.

Point au Roche Site Features

Notes: Open year-round. Staff offer a variety of public programs.
Trails: The park’s nearly 14 miles of nature, hiking and biking trails wind through all of Point Au Roche’s interesting wildlife habitats.
Accessibility: This site has some accessible features, including picnic areas and recreation programs.
Directions: Northway/I-87 exit 40;
right onto NY 456/Spellman Rd.; first right onto US-9 south; left at County Rd. 22/Point Au Roche Rd.; right onto Camp Red Cloud Rd.
Contact: 518-563-0369, www.nysparks.com/parks/30/details.aspx.
(via www.dec.ny.gov)

Related articles

• Snow Geese (www.essexonlakechamplain.com)
• Lake Champlain as a stop-over for Snow Geese flying south (northcountrypublicradio.org)