Great-horned Owl perched in a farm hedgerow (David Bradbeer) Short-eared Owl hunting voles over a grassland (Hank Tseng). A farm lane in Delta, BC (Tyler Garnham). A Marsh Wren singing atop a hedgerow (David Bradbeer). A diversity of food grown in Delta, BC (Markus Merkens). Coopers Hawk perching on a fence (Markus Merkens). Barley growing in a Delta field (Tyler Garnham). Trumpeter Swans feed on a cover crop (David Bradbeer). Spring plowing on a Delta farm (Markus Merkens). Snow Geese taking off from a farm field (David Shackleton) Ladybird beetle on a barley plant (David Bradbeer)

Lesser Snow Goose

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Snow Geese can be seen in large numbers in west Delta between October and April. They can have a magical appearance when flying in a wavy formation, resembling a string of glittering pearls, or landing as a flock, when they look like snow gently falling to the ground.

Snow Geese have white bodies and black wing-tips. Juveniles are grey, and very rarely there is a dark adult which has a black body and a white head.

The Wrangel Island Snow Goose population is the last to breed in northern Russia. This unique population overwinters on the Fraser River delta and the Skagit River delta in Washington, and some fly farther south to central California.

When on Wrangel Island they nest close to each other, with as many as eight nesting pairs per acre. The parents mate for life, and often stay together with their young for the migration and until the next year when their young start their own families.

While here on the Fraser River delta, they feed on marsh plants, un-harvested root crops, and grasses including Winter Cover Crops. Their bills have a strongly serrated edge, as do their tongues, so they are able to feed on tough tubers.