Freezeout Lake 2011. Canon 7d, 500mm f4, 1.4tc
I drove up to Freezeout Lake yesterday morning to check the status of birds and weather and also to test out a new lens. Lots of snow on the ground and at least in the morning the roads were a little treacherous. Birds have been off to a slow start and on Sunday there were around 5,000 swans and a few thousand snow geese. Duck numbers were looking pretty good and quite a few Pintails flying around.
I checked the Freezeout Hotline this afternoon and they said snow geese numbers are now around 10,000. The spring migration is definitely behind this year and there is still a fair amount of ice on the water. Forecast for today and tomorrow doesn’t look the greatest with another winter storm dumping up to a foot in the valleys in places and a couple of feet in the mountains. They estimate bird numbers should be increasing by this next weekend and viewing opportunities will be better.
If you are planning on traveling to central Montana for the migration, Freezeout Lake has a hotline that updates the bird counts daily. 406-467-2646
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