Freezout Lake 2016

Freezout Lake near Fairfield, Montana serves as a stopover location for approximately 300,000 Snow Geese every March towards the end of the month. Whether or not your a birder, this spectacle is incredible. The birds spend the nights on the ponds and the days refueling by gleaning barley from the nearby fields. From there, they either return to the water to rest or continue north.

Snow Geese in Snow

I finally made it back to Freezout Lake. My first trip happened in March of 2013 and was a fantastic experience. I came back again for another couple of days to see one of nature’s amazing spectacles. A beautiful sunset with some swans and geese started things off. The next morning, however, was cold and windy with a mix of rain and snow. It made for some dramatic photos. Despite the inclement weather, it was fun to watch the birds rise en masse and descend again as they went from one barley field to another.

Freezeout Lake at Sunrise

The next morning brought an incredible sunrise with pinks and purples. While I didn’t get a closeup of the rise of thousands of birds, we were treated to numerous rises at a slight distance. The weather was a far cry from the previous day and wrapped up nicely a great trip full of Snow Geese and a variety of other waterfowl such as American Wigeons, Canvasbacks, Canada Geese, and Northern Pintails.

Put Freezout on your schedule for next March, right around the 21st or so and be ready for something truly special.

Snow Geese at Sunset

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3 responses to “Freezout Lake 2016”

  1. tom kotynski Avatar
    tom kotynski

    Freezout misspelled. No e after z.

    1. hike734 Avatar

      Thanks for the correction Tom! I’d looked and saw it a few different ways in the past and got lazy this time around. I got it corrected. 😉

  2. Harry Chandler Avatar
    Harry Chandler

    I was fortunate enough to experience a geese migration in Wisconsin. Those had been Canadian Geese I think. Powerful and fluid are two words that come to mind.

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