“See the geese in chevron flight flapping and racing on before the snow—
They’ve got the urge for going and they’ve got the wings to go…” Joni Mitchell
It’s odd. For years now, I’ve grown accustomed to large numbers of Canada Geese arriving in our area late November and leaving in mid-January, or whenever the pond where I photograph freezes over.
I’ve always assumed it’s the same lot staying for the holidays. Then, just a few days ago, I had what you might call, given the season, an epiphany.
Suppose I’m photographing activities at a way-station?
What if a hundred or so geese fly in, stay a few days, fly off and then are replaced by a new skein from parts north?
Or what if this is like the airport in Charlotte, North Carolina— where small flights of geese trickle in, and then fly off when they’ve reached a hundred, which seems the rough limit of what the pond can sustain?
Only the geese know.
