US FWS: Public Affairs Specialist Ryan Moehring and Biologist Kristine Askerooth, both in our Mountain-Prairie Region, tell us about an amazing event that happened recently at Tewaukon National Wildlife Refuge in southeast North Dakota. Warm spring temperatures may not have sprung everywhere just yet, but spring is definitely springing.
Just ask the geese.
More than 750,000 of these migratory birds began arriving at Tewaukon National Wildlife Refuge in southeast North Dakota on March 10. The flock consisted primarily of snow geese, although some blue geese were sprinkled in.
The birds stayed on Lake Tewaukon for several days, enjoying the only open water in the area. As other lakes and ponds in the area became free of ice, the numbers at Tewaukon dropped — some days there were 300,000, other days just 50,000. (Editor’s note: Even 50,000 birds in one area seems pretty stunning to me.)
The birds visited Tewaukon on their way to their Arctic breeding grounds.
Hundreds of people flocked (pun intended) to the refuge to witness this spectacular wildlife show! The sound of that many geese is deafening, and it is impossible to imagine unless you’ve experienced it first-hand. Anglers standing side-by-side on the shore told our refuge staff that when the geese would take off or land in large numbers it was impossible to hear each other speak.
This year’s count is the second highest number of snow geese ever recorded on Tewaukon National Wildlife Refuge. The highest count occurred in the spring of 1992 when once again Lake Tewaukon was the only open water around and more than 800,000 snow geese piled into the open water.