rise,
they drown all sound,
but for the beating thrum of thousands of wings.
They blanket the sky,
blocking the sun,
with blinding white,
generating their own radiant light!
Cheers to you from the wintering snow geese at The Salton Sea~
Wow!
It is beyond thrilling to stand under them when they take off like this!
I can only imagine. One day Bob and I were down by the lake and say a fly over of eagles during migration. That was pretty spectacular, but nothing compared to this.
Oh I would be out of my gourd to see migrating eagles! I have heard of the phenomena, but have never seen it! 🕊️
Astounding. ~~dru~~
They are a force of nature! 🕊️
Fantastic sight, Cindy. A very nice appreciation you’ve shared with us.
Cheers,
Frank
I am so pleased you enjoyed & cheers to you~ 🕊️
I wish I could see and hear them. Thanks for sharing.
It is an absolute thrill to stand under them when they take off. The sound is like nothing you have ever heard! I wish you could experience it too~ 🕊️
Astounding! Thank you for sharing this.
Thank you more for appreciating the 🕊️🕊️🕊️!
That must be an impressive sight!
It is up there towards the top of thrilling things I have experienced! 🕊️
I can believe that.
<3
wow
Yes indeed! 🕊️🕊️
roar like a massive waterfall… If my English wasn’t that astoundingly well, I would say: Cindy, you is a poet.
I tain’t but thanx!!! 😉 🕊️
Beautiful series of snow geese and their progression in flight. Do they change locations from the Salton Sea near you to the Salton Sea in Vancouver, Washington?
Thanks for allowing us to see what you see.
Wally
They winter here and head north. I know they go to Canada and Alaska so I feel certain now that you said this, that some must stop in Washington~ 🕊️
Wow, they are so many of them. It must be great to live for that many many of the same kind of birds together. The sky is so lovey blue and these white birds are just a great contrast for the scene. Beautiful.
Awww, you are such a good friend! Thank you & cheers too~ 🕊️
Whoa! Beautiful!
It is an amazing sound and sight when they all take off enmass which they do regularly! 🕊️
Oh wow like a blanket of them across the sky 🙂
Exactly and you should hear the sound! It is low building crescendo of a rumble, like a large squadron of fighter jets taking off all at once~ 🕊️
I can only imagine 🙂 wow 🙂
<3
Wow!!! That is some flock. Beautiful!!
They are such beautiful, pristine looking birds and a 100,000 or so of them taking off is an amazing sight~
I can only imagine, living them through your lens. Maybe one day… 🙂
Wonderful!
It must have been great for you. The most wonderful adventure with birds i had had in Berlin.
https://frankgueld.wordpress.com/2016/07/05/murmuration-und-musik/
How gorgeous! I would love to see this in Berlin and I so love the music you picked to accompany it. It created such a beautiful post! Bravo~
The videoclip is not my creation. I posted it to show how the birds build those flight figures I had seen. There are more murmurations in clips when you go to the links.
Lovely! I would call the larger birds that flock in the 100.000’s a symphonic murmuration. The sound is truly incredible!
Yes. I heard The birds in Berlin without music. The voices and the rumor of flight. Great!
So that’s where they all go for the winter! That is just awesome to see. Breath taking to look at but to hear it must be overwhelming. Great, great photos.
This is where they hang out in the winter, in huge numbers, because I think they disperse more as they head north! Thank goodness for me or I would only get to see bits of them when I travel north~ 🕊️🕊️🕊️
Wonderful photos. That’s awesome. How in the world do they not run into each other? Is there one main leader? Nature is so amazing. Thanks for sharing.
You asked the best question! Scientists don’t know how they do this, but different factors are being studied, including some form of non-verbal, even psychic communication, between the birds. I kid you not. I read several scientific papers on this. They are looking at the same phenomena in schooling fish. What I noticed observing them is that they take of in groups of a couple of a thousand at a time , almost like a progressive wave phenomena. Amazing isn’t it! They have skills we cannot even begin to understand~
Stunning!
Ir was a thrill to have these massive clouds of birds take off low directly over my head and they didn’t drop a single doo-doo on me, sweet birds! 🕊️
OMG! What completely amazing photos. Your picture-taking abilities are truly fantastic! 🙂
Awww, you are so kind and so appreciated thank you on behalf of the birdies too! 🕊️🕊️
Absolutely astounding, Cindy! Last time I visited the snow geese was near GreyLodge sanctuary north of Sacramento! With my new camera, I hope to head up there when all this wild wind and rain stops and the rivers and waters recede a little!
We are supposed to be heading to Big Sur but the incoming storms keep delaying us. Still, we just have to be so grateful that the horrendous drought that killed 300,000 trees state wide may be over. I very much look forward to your photos~
Supposed to be bad all weekend! Up north here the wind is gusting to 45 mph! Eeks! Be careful if you drive anywhere!
Yes and the trails are washed out. 12 inches is expected over the next few days on our mountains!
They can fly in excellent formation, a sign of their lives as a society. When they approach in a mass, get under cover.
I wondered if they would rain on me but they didn’t even drop one birdie doo on me and many thousands flew right over my head. They were most considerate! 🕊️🕊️
Reblogged this on Random Ramblings; Myriad Musings and commented:
I’m betting that the sound is impressive…Cindy captures the moment perfectly with her photography and verse!
😎
My husband says I should have put the camera on video to capture the sound. Next time…… Thank you for supporting these incredible 🕊️🕊️🕊️!
I would love to hear the sound! I can just imagine it…
🙂
I’ll do it!
So beautiful! 🙂 <3
They are such pristine, bright white birds! 🕊️🕊️
Yes they are and against that deep blue sky they were even more stuuning❌‼️⭕️
Superb captures CIndy – especially the one with one over another
Ahh, thank you for noticing! 🕊️🕊️
🙂
Must have been quite the experience to hear the roar. Stunning images, Cindy. <3
It’s a big thrill. Usually it happens in the distance, you hear the roar, you look and you see the flocks rising in waves. This time I got very close and massive flocks took off directly over my head. It happened twice. It was absolutely thrilling. I was covered in birds but never even touched! 🕊️
Covered in birds…wow! <3
These pictures are incredible… amazing!!!
Our planet has so many wonders waiting for us to discover~ 🕊️🕊️
Thank you for bringing so many of them to us!!!
Wow that is a lot of birds! Reminds me of the old thriller movie The Birds! Hug Lisa and Bear
Hugs back to you two and enjoy your Kaluha Cake! <3
That is amazing, Cindy. Quite the phenomenon! 🙀
Indeed it was! Cheers to you Linda~ 🕊️
wow… fantastic photos!
Aww so nice and so appreciated! 🕊️
Wow! Snow geese are beautiful. I have never seen a sight like that. Hundreds of birds flying above. Can you really hear the wings fluttering? That’s amazing. The photos are just wonderful. Thank you!
Yes, maybe 100,000 individual beating wings create a thunderous roar! 🕊️🕊️
That is awesome! I wonder if Youtube has a video of that. I am going to check it out.
I think next time I will video this so the sound will be included~
Great images. The Malards outside my office window were acting spooky today. Sounds like a gunshot when they all take off at once.
Yes! Something spooked them~ 🕊️
What a great moment, Cindy! You were there when the geese speak.
✧❥✧¸.•*¨*✧♡\ \ \⋛⋋( ‘Θ’)⋌⋚/ / /) ✧ ℒℴѵℯ ✧♡✧*¨*•.❥
And they don’t just talk, they roar, and when they roar no other sounds can possibly be heard. I was happy for them, plus thrilled to my toes to be in the middle of this! 🕊️🕊️
Amazing, breathtaking, awesome, and utterly exquisite. It boggles the mind to wonder how such a mammoth mass of birds can synchronize their flying and not crash into one another! You’ve captured them beautifully, Cindy 💖
Ah, thank you Tina! Science is studying this, both in fish schooling and bird flocking behavior. They are looking into non-verbal communication and some sort of psychic relay. What a wondrous world we live in!
Indeed it is! For me, psychic communication is a given. And although I adore science (vivisection excluded),researchers often fail to recognize the unseen and acknowledge its presence. If they can’t measure it, then it isn’t valid. Intuitive forms of measuring need to be validated if the human species is to continue . . .
Fabulous photos, Cindy!!
Thank you kindly! 🕊️
This looks really great!
Very happy you enjoyed~ 🕊️
Your photos are stunning as always, Cindy!
And you are thoughtful as always. Thank you! 🕊️
Aren’t they amazing? Their cousins wintering here say ‘hello!’
You mean there’s even MORE of them!!! YAY!!! Power to the snow geese! 🕊️🕊️🕊️
Now that’s impressive! Beautiful!
Thank you Jan, they are stunning creatures~ 🕊️
Wow, what an amazing sight! So many birds, they blot out the sky. I’ve always wanted to see a sight like that in person and have heard about these snow geese. Another is the starling murmuration, often called the “black sun” phenomenon (of which I’ve seen YouTube videos of in the Sacramento area). That must be incredible to witness their fluid motion.
Someone just sent me a video of the murmuration in Berlin. Where ever it occurs, when someone witnesses it, they are left gob-smacked and thrilled, especially if you are lucky enough to be inside the densest part. It is just how I felt inside a large swarm of honeybees. Thrilled to the core! All of sudden you are not observing nature, you are part of the incredible power and beauty of it~
Indrukwekkende foto’s
Heel erg bedankt! Ik ben blij dat je genoten van de prachtige vogels~
Absolutely magnificent! Love your poetry to go along with these stunning birds and incredibly photography of them. Bravo!
Peta
Gave me goosebumps!!!
Love this!!! Smiling (maybe this is where the term originated from!) 🕊️
Ahhhh, so kind of you and so very appreciated! Thank you~ 🕊️🕊️
You’re lucky to have witnessed this in real life Cindy. It’s amazing to see in your photos or on one of David Attenborough’s TV programmes but they cannot provide the real experience as it must be. Brilliant!
Having them take off right in front of me and fly so close all around and above me was absolutely thrilling. Often, I am an usually an observer. When this happened I was in the midst of the flock, I was part of it. Not one feather touched me, yet the wind from the wings, and the sound was overwhelming.
Something similar happened a few years ago. I heard this intense powerful rumble and I thought, “Oh, a plane is in trouble and I looked around for it,” when I saw this dark cloud coming straight towards me. It was a bee swarm. I was scared but there was no time, nothing to do but stand rooted to the spot. The swarm enveloped me, but the feeling was one of perfect safety and bliss. The swarm parted like the red sea. It never touched me, even though it completely surrounded me. For a few seconds, I was part of the swarm. And then it was gone.
When stuff like this happens it creates a sense of wonder that remains. 🕊️
Wow ….. Wow ….. Wow! I’m speechless. That’s incredible, what an amazing experience and a great description. Thank you 😄
What a beautiful and moving sight, Cindy. Have you read The Snow Geese by William Fiennes? I recommend it. 🙂
No. I will look for it on my kindle. I need a new book now. Thank you for the lead~ 🕊️🕊️
Enjoy! 🙂
I don’t think I’ve ever seen (or heard) a flock of that size. Still more adventures to have…
Always! Where there is life, there is the possibility for adventure! 🕊️
Foto fantastiche, complimenti
Grazie mille e di essere bene il mio amico! 🕊️
Wow, amazing!
Thank you. It was indeed! 🕊️
Amazing as always Cindy.. beautiful. xxx
Thanks much and cheers to you dear Sally! 🕊️🕊️
We get the cranes fly over twice a year and I just love to see them,
That would be an absolutely thrilling sight! There are here now, but I have never seen the entire flock in the sky~ 🕊️
Quite a spectacular sight!
Thank you and very happy you think so Allt~ 🕊️
wow Cindy what is this beautiful to see.
Thank you my dear friend and cheers to you~ 🕊️🕊️
Very beautiful, Cindy 🙂
Merci beaucoup mon ami! 🕊️
Fabulous. Seems like you almost need ear protection!
I think the sound is magic. 😉
Well, on second thoughts, this is definitely more for your ears than the colony of Pinkfoot geese in the marshes in Norfolk … And what a sight for the eyes, Cindy. Incredible images, I have never seen anything like it. Bravo!
YES! Being in the center of the flock is a feeling of utter peace and safety, combined with a sense of wonder that can only come from being in the heart of mother nature and her creation. <3 It wasn’t at all unpleasant. It was very similar to the thunder of a very large waterfall, all enveloping but completely tranquil~ 🕊️
It wasn’t at all unpleasant. It was very similar to the thunder of a very large waterfall, all enveloping but completely tranquil~ 🕊️
Oh, then, that’s lovely.
Absolutely stunning photographs, Sue. Incredible Incredible cloud of geese!
Thanks so much and cheers to you Isabel~ 🕊️🕊️
On the first picture it doesn’t look like a flock of birds but like a cloud. Unbelievable, how many geese are in one place.
Trying to figure this out is like trying to count penguins in Antarctica which scientists did while we were there. They took an area and shot panoramic photos. Blew up one area and counted the penguins, then multiplied the area by the remaining amount of space and came up with something like 400,000 in that area. I wouldn’t be able to guess the numbers, but it is much larger than you see in the photos since I couldn’t begin to get the entire flock into one shot. I shot them in segments.
Beautiful…
They are gorgeous creatures! 🕊️
Fabulous sighting…
It was thrilling! 🕊️
Magnificent, Cindy. 🙂 — Suzanne
Ah, thank you Patricia and cheers to you~
Amazing. I have been fortunate to feel the thrumming of their wings in my heart. I look forward to this time of year when the arctic birds sometimes winter here but alas not one so far.
Yes, you do feel this is your heart. Beautifully expressed Colleen~ <3
Fascinating pictures!
Thank you!
Wow! So many of them. That’s a truly awesome sight. And there was me thinking that the flocks of geese were large that arrived on the SE coast of the UK from Scandinavia this winter. I loved their honking noises from dawn to dusk for several weeks on end. Every time they flew over the garden, I could hear their wings beating the air. My dog was entranced. She sat int he middle of the lawn, staring up at the sky, watching them. I taught her from a young age that birds are not to be treated as marauders on, or over her territory, so she loves them and treats them with great respect … the respect they deserve.
And they probably respond to her in kind. My husband witnessed me in the flock. He asked, “Weren’t you concerned you would get dropped on?”
I said, “Not even for a nano-second. ” My face was turned directly up, shooting the birds with my mouth open in wonder as they flew in mass over my head. I thought they wouldn’t drop on me and they didn’t.
Maybe they can sense when they are revered, like your doggie watching them fly by.
What a wonderful world~
I’ve never seen that many snow geese, or any kind of birds, all together at once. Amazing! Thanks for sharing!
Thank you more for appreciating them! 🕊️
Such majestic creatures, Cindy — thanks for sharing their winter habitat with us. I get to see geese all summer (not sure if they’re the snow variety, though).
There are so many different kind of geese aren’t there, just like ducks. There were some pretty exotic ducks at the sea too~ 🕊️
Whenever the geese fly overhead I always say to them “Safe journey guys,” I adore geese.
Good for you and somehow I think they hear you! 🕊️
These are some wonderful photos! We live right by a playa lake, and the Canada geese winter over here. There are thousands of them. When they take off it is so loud it drowns out the TV. We always run to look and take photos, too. I don’t think I hear their wings, but their honking is making so much noise! 🙂
Oh how wonderful! These guys weren’t honking much. Just the sound of the wings. But the sandhill cranes have that distinctive lu-lu-lul honk when they fly! 🕊️
Yummy! My favorite meal just flying around waiting for… well, let’s not go there. Next Christmas is far away 🙂
Laughing, no let’s not go there. I can’t eat ducks or geese because I used to raise them. I remember you were very tolerant of the grizzlies even though they were eating your salmon! 🙂 😉 🕊️
I share my food, always have and always will. Chocolate is not food right?
Wow. That’s a lot of geese! I think the most I’ve seen at a time are about 30 and even they are noisy. Great photos, Cindy.
It is a pretty awe inspiring sight! 🕊️
Wow, unter vielen tollen Fotos sind die aber noch ein highlight !!!
Du bist sehr nett! Vielen Dank und Jubel fur Sie~
Those are beautiful! You add light to this WordPress 🙂
You (and your Matthew) add pure heart. I have a Matthew too~ <3 🕊️
Another fascinating tale! This sounds like a sight to behold and hear. I certainly didn’t know that they roar! Thanks Cindy.
Ah, thanks Brad. They don’t actually roar with their bills but with the sound of thousands of their beating wings~ 🕊️
That would be quite the sight to see let alone hear, Cindy.
Leslie
It is, and was! Nature is incredible~ 🕊️
How absolutely GLORIOUS!😃
Exactly! Thank you for knowing~ <3 🕊️
Wow, these are stunning photos Cindy. I love some of the close-ups you managed to get, too 🙂
Thank you for noticing them and cheers to you too~ 🕊️🕊️
These are awesome shots. 🙂
Thank you very much~ 🕊️
That must be the most AMAZING experience, Cindy! Lucky you!
It is. It was. It will remain so. It is like being hugged by nature~ <3 🕊️
Fabulous shots. Wow. The photos are spectacular and the captures amazing. I can’t imagine how they don’t trample each other landing when there’s so many in one spot. Thank you for sharing, Cindy. Love the pictures. <3 <3
If you start to think about how they fly like this, take off and land with precision, envelope me in the take off, (an oddity to day the least) without touching me, and travel thousands of miles with no wrong turns, if think about this, you realize we have no idea how they do any of these things. And that awareness leaves you open to the wonder which is a beautiful thing~ <3 🕊️
Absolutely gorgeous experience – must have been! Oh, the sound! And so beautiful, I guess they move like one body?
They do and you are right, it is an amazing experience. Cheers to you and thank you Leya~
Oh my, that is a lot of geese- so much abundance!
Yes, the numbers are astounding~
That would be an amazing view, Cindy. I would love to stand in the field and watch their flight real time one day!
It is otherworldly to be in the midst of one these flocks. They don’t even brush you they are such precise fliers!
Amazing!
Sublime.
Looooove these photos! 💗They remind me of when we used to go to Bombay Hook NWR in DE and would see giant masses of them. Once, we were out at another wildlife viewing area and a flock flew directly overhead. We ran to the car but poor hubby got a runny present right on his shoulder anyway. 😆
Cross my fingers, no bird has ever bombed me! It is a thrill so see this phenomena and I am glad you had experienced! 🕊️
Fantastische Cindy…
Vielen dank mein lieber Freund Ernst! 🕊️ <3
Marvelous shots, Cindy. I’d love to see them and hear the roar one day. The last picture is my favorite – masterful capture!
Ah, thank you for noticing it! You can see I only got a portion of the flock in the pano shot. The back portion was cut off. The flock was twice as big!
Wow!
‘A screeching, scolding, scrabbling host of seabirds on the shore.
A snowy, silent, sun-washed drift of seabirds on the shore.’
Walter de la Mare [the last two lines of The Storm]
Love both of them. Thank you for sharing ! 🕊️🕊️
Gulp! I realise I have misquoted. It should be:
‘A host of screeching scolding scrabbling
sea-birds on the shore.
A snow, silent, sun-washed drift
of sea-birds on the shore.’
Apologies Walter!
It is beautiful both ways!
What a massive flock Cindy!! Where do they come from?? Amazing photos (like always!). thank you.
The snow geese spend springs and summer in Canada and Alaska and winter either in the Salton Sea in Southern California or Central California~
Hey Cindy–never seen them here– we have 2 parks nearby that have big flocks of Canadian geese than come down. You’re photos were amazing! Hope you’re in the middle of a lovely weekend. It’s dry here today!
Happy Saturday to you Rhonda and enjoy the dry spell~ <3
Hi Cindy– we did take advantage of our dry day– drove up to the Pasadena Civic to see a broadcast of “Prairie Home Companion.” Lots of fun music– now we’re back to slogging through the rain (but I’m NOT complaining!) How was your weekend??
How fun and I love Garrison. It just hailed like nobody’s business! It was like snow in the semi-desert! The birds were shocked. All is good here. Enjoying the rain. We are heading up to Piedras Blancas on Thursday to see the baby elephant seals.
Hail?!! crazy weather! But I’m loving the rain (and so is my yard). Will be waiting to see photos of those little seals… hugs!
<3 <3
Wow…. Amazing captures, Cindy! I’d be thrill to death watching these birds. 🙂
It is indeed & Happy Saturday Amy! <3
W-wowwww!
That sums up the experience perfectly! 🕊️
What an amazing sight.
And sound! 🕊️
Piękne zdjęcia Cindy.
Wszystkiego najlepszego w Nowym Roku
Dziękuję mojemu przyjacielowi i wszystkiego dobrego!
I’ll bet they help maintain the fertility of those fields too. 🙂
I tromped all over the place and I didn’t see the amount of errrrrr, fertilizer, that I expected, maybe due to the rains~
We have trumpeter Swans in Sequim WA. Love these birds.
Lucky you! They have them wintering in Central California too. I drove by them once quickly with someone else and want very much to go back.
Beautiful photos. We don’t have snow geese here, just Canadian geese. They do make a lot of racket, but it amazes me to watch them fly.
Their formations are quite beautiful!
WOW – simply spectacular Cindy. It must have been an amazing experience 💛
Yes! The roar of thousands of wings is very powerful~
And the ROAR of people being heard across the country is also powerful 💕
Indeed! I did this post in anticipation of our peaceful roar~
💕🙏💕
Beautiful shots of a splendid happening, Cindy!
I love geese. Do you ever see Canada Geese where you are?
Sadly not. I have to go north to see them~
wow…the sounds…so so so many….wonderful Val ~ smiles hedy
They are an undeniably powerful force when all together! 🕊️
oh i can only imagine 🙂
<3
Wow!!!
Yes! 🕊️
Wow, what a mass of geese taking off in the last photo!
Oscar
Plus, I couldn’t include the whole flock, there were many more! 🕊️
Hallo, Cindy, schönen Sonntag und guten Start in die neue Woche
Vielen dank mein lieber Freund~ 🕊️
As always so amazing Cindy!
Power in numbers! 🕊️
yes!
Goodness me! Need an umbrella to be under all that! LOL
I stood under many flocks and they never dropped a single gift on me! 🕊️
Don’t jinx! 😄
Good point! 😉
What an experience that must have been.I hope I can one day experience it, too.
I hope so too. It is hard to describe, but quite magical~ 🕊️
Whoa! Those are a lot of birds. When we were still children, we used to witness “clouds” of birds like this in our hometown. They usually fly around late in the afternoon. Unfortunately, with all the cut trees, pollution, artificial developments, etc., we haven’t seen massive groups of birds like this any more. 🙁
That is so sad. It is magical to experience~ 🕊️🕊️
Magical captures of the snow geese flights. Was just reading a little piece on the Salton Sea, its incredibly salinity, and the ability of halibut to adapt to this environment. Apparently the snow geese love the area too.
Lots of fish die in the sea or live short lives, interesting about the halibut. It is a very unusual eco-system~
Hi, Cindy. So you stayed near Salton Seas for a while! I love the shot of the dark tips on their wings. Surprising.
We sometimes stay in Borrego, but mostly do day trips from The Holler. It takes a little under two hours to get there~
So many geese! I’ve never seen so many in one place. Beautiful photos, Cindy!
Thank you and it is quite a gaggle isn’t it! 🕊️
Wow! That’s a full sky of Geese. Wonderful photos 🙂
So pleased you enjoyed & cheers to you~ 🕊️🕊️
I imagine it was quite a roar 🙂 a beautiful one 🙂
Thank you, t is amazing to experience! 🕊️🕊️
I’ve heard a lot about the Salton Sea. Beautiful images!
It is a very strange place to say the least! 🕊️🕊️
Stunning.
Thank you for your thoughtfulness~ <3
wow wonderful show of the geese, Cindy~
Very pleased you enjoyed them & cheers to you!
wonderful.. very nice photos.. loves.. 🙂 <3
Great pictures thanks for sharing!
Wow! How amazing!
It is like a parable with its golden message, how people can work together, rise up and fly, becoming a fellowship and releasing a common sound, let freedom sing out a “roar!” 😀
Exactly! And I posted it right before a lot of women (and men) did just that!!! <3
Wow! These pictures are wonderfull! Great nature and great photography! Thanks & many greetings!