{"id":50654,"date":"2018-01-11T06:16:49","date_gmt":"2018-01-11T13:16:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=50654"},"modified":"2025-05-19T04:49:02","modified_gmt":"2025-05-19T09:49:02","slug":"an-immature-snow-goose-in-salt-lake-county","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/01\/11\/an-immature-snow-goose-in-salt-lake-county\/","title":{"rendered":"An Immature Snow Goose in Salt Lake County"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"ImmatureImmature Snow Goose calling in flight – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/800, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

On December 26th, 2017 I found a single immature Snow Goose at my local pond that was too far away from me to take high quality images.\u00a0 I did take some long distance photos of the young goose as it lifted off from the pond and my hope was that the Snow Goose would come back to so I’ve been keeping an eye out for a white goose every trip I have made down to the local pond since then, yesterday that paid off.<\/p>\n

\"ImmatureImmature Snow Goose in low light – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/800, ISO 640, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I can’t be certain this is the same goose that I saw on December 26th but I found an immature Snow Goose feeding with some Canada Geese in the grass across the pond.<\/p>\n

The goose was too far away at that point to take anything but documentary images. I was excited by the presence of the young Snow Goose and hoped it would come closer and eventually it did. A fisherman walked close to where the Canada Geese and the Snow Goose were feeding and that caused all of them to move out onto the water. As the Snow Goose came closer I cursed the clouds a bit because I wanted better light on the bird. Still a Snow Goose in low light is better than no Snow Goose at all.<\/p>\n

\"ImmatureImmature Snow Goose in afternoon light – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/2500, ISO 640, -0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The sun did peek through the clouds eventually and I was able to take photos of the immature Snow Goose in better light. I was over the moon, it had been a long time since I had a Snow Goose in my viewfinder this close.<\/p>\n

\"ImmatureImmature Snow Goose in a hole in the bank – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/640, ISO 640, -0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

While some of the Canada Geese were squabbling I saw the immature Snow Goose swim close to the shore and then saw I the goose stick its head up from a hole in the bank. Not a perfect photo, but I like it.<\/p>\n

The Snow Goose did climb the bank of the pond and I was able to take a few quick photos of it before the squabbling Canada Geese seemed to startle the young goose and it moved back out onto the pond…<\/p>\n

\"ImmatureImmature Snow Goose taking a drink – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/3200, ISO 640, -0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Which was fortunate because the immature Snow Goose lazily drifted on the water in front of me in good light. It sipped water from the pond…<\/p>\n

\"ImmatureImmature Snow Goose in Salt Lake County – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/3200, ISO 640, -0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Looked around a lot…<\/p>\n

\"PreeningPreening immature Snow Goose – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/2000, ISO 400, -0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

And to my delight the immature goose preened right in front of me for a bit before it moved further away.<\/p>\n

This young Snow Goose took off with a flock of Canada Geese later on and while I did get sharp photos of it in flight they were ruined, in my opinion, by the bright siding of the houses behind the goose as it flew by.<\/p>\n

Oh well, maybe this immature Snow Goose will hang around and I will have another opportunity to photograph it.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/a><\/span> to see more of my Snow Goose photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I can’t be certain this is the same goose that I saw on December 26th but I found an immature Snow Goose feeding with some Canada Geese in the grass across the pond. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":144967,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,709,1971,26],"tags":[5554,4513,4072,6320,4052,713,4775,4067,4071,156,4019,4514,8018,2063,373,4193],"class_list":["post-50654","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-salt-lake-county-utah","category-snow-geese","category-utah","tag-afternoon-light","tag-anser-caerulescens","tag-calling","tag-drink","tag-flight","tag-geese","tag-goose","tag-immature","tag-juvenile","tag-low-light-2","tag-preening-2","tag-snow-geese","tag-urban","tag-waterfowl","tag-winter","tag-young"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/snow-goose-juvenile-preening-mia-mcpherson-4502.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-db0","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":55416,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/12\/26\/my-first-of-winter-snow-goose-sighting\/","url_meta":{"origin":50654,"position":0},"title":"My First of Winter Snow Goose Sighting","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 26, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"I really did get a Christmas Goose yesterday when I spotted my first of winter Snow Goose that was resting on a boulder near the banks of the Jordan River yesterday.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Immature Snow Goose giving me the \"eye\", Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/snow-goose-immature-mia-mcpherson-4385.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/snow-goose-immature-mia-mcpherson-4385.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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2022","format":false,"excerpt":"I drove up to Bear River MBR yesterday morning and was thrilled to be able to photograph an immature Snow Goose resting on the frost covered ground.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Side lit immature Snow Goose, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/snow-goose-immature-backlit-mia-mcpherson-6563.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/snow-goose-immature-backlit-mia-mcpherson-6563.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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Unfortunately, on that afternoon, I didn't have my camera with me.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Urban Snow Goose in Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/snow-goose-golf-course-mia-mcpherson-9055.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/snow-goose-golf-course-mia-mcpherson-9055.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/snow-goose-golf-course-mia-mcpherson-9055.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/snow-goose-golf-course-mia-mcpherson-9055.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":44067,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/12\/21\/canada-goose-lift-off-series-plus-more-photos-of-the-canada-x-snow-goose-hybrid\/","url_meta":{"origin":50654,"position":4},"title":"Canada Goose Lift Off Series Plus More Photos of the Canada x Snow Goose Hybrid","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 21, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday morning at my local pond I took a series of images of a Canada Goose lifting off plus more photos of the Canada x Snow Goose hybrid I found there.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Canada Goose taking off from a pond, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/canada-goose-taking-off-mia-mcpherson-7259.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/canada-goose-taking-off-mia-mcpherson-7259.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/canada-goose-taking-off-mia-mcpherson-7259.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/canada-goose-taking-off-mia-mcpherson-7259.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":119620,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/01\/12\/canada-goose-on-the-wing\/","url_meta":{"origin":50654,"position":5},"title":"Canada Goose On The Wing","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 12, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"There was a break in the gray clouds yesterday before noon, so I drove down to my local pond. 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