TETON COUNTY — Large flocks of snow geese have been taking off from Freezout (sometimes "Freezeout") Lake the last several mornings around dusk. Numbers will begin to come down after this weekend.
It is not too late to take a trip out to Freezout to catch the migration - it's located along US Highway 89 between Fairfield and Choteau. The best time to visit is right around dawn.
Freezout Lake is around 12,000 acres holding as many as 50,000 snow geese throughout the entirety of the migration.
This year's late March arrival is right on time for normal. However, according to Brent Lonner, the area's wildlife biologist with Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks, says the numbers have been below normal for snow geese and slightly above normal for swans.
Weather systems between Montana and California can not only impact the arrival, but also the length of time they spend at the lake.
Lonner states: "More likely they are just going to come through here quickly. That is mostly because they are biologically driven, they want to get to nesting."
The snow geese do return on the trip south in fall, but not quite in such large numbers.
