‘Spectacular sight’: See snow geese land in Sacramento area field in snowy setting
A new video shows snow geese landing in a rice field in the Sacramento Valley with the snow-capped Sierra Nevada mountains as a backdrop.
Five goose species are commonly found in the Sacramento Valley during the winter, “but the snow goose is by far the most abundant,” according to Luke Matthews, wildlife programs manager for the California Rice Commission.
Jim Morris, communications director for the group, shot the video ahead of a new storm expected to arrive in the valley and the Lake Tahoe area today.
Weather service forecasters predict the most severe snowfall this week near the Oregon border, not over the Sierra Nevada. Snow is expected Monday and Tuesday, bringing more than a foot of snow at Lassen Peak, up to 8 inches along Interstate 5 near Mount Shasta, between 4 and 6 inches along Interstate 80 at Donner Pass and 1 to 2 inches at Echo Summit along Highway 50.
Winter means nearly 1.5 million white geese, which include both the snow and Ross’s goose, are arriving in California.
“As the weather continues to cool in California and we move towards the holidays Snow Goose numbers will continue to rise,” Matthews wrote in a blog for the commission. “This is the best time to get out into the fields and see epic thunderous flocks of geese.”
The video prompted positive comments on Facebook.
“Spectacular sight,” Janice Sanford wrote.
This story was originally published January 3, 2022 at 8:43 AM.
