Prelude to Blast-off

56,025 snow geese. That's a lotta snow geese, and Bosque del Apache's got'em. This afternoon, several thousand filled one of the refuge's larger ponds. We set up to capture close-ups of their rather odd snaggle- toothed beaks. After just a few clicks, the tempo of goose-to-goose chatter increased. A common prelude to blast-off. Then, kaboom, birds filled the sky flying above and around us.The noise level alone might be enough to levitate us into the air with them. A most wow-can-you-believe-this moment.