Dr. Chris McDonald, professor of political science, recently photographed snow geese: a few ambling on campus, and many, many on Lake Springfield! It’s been suggested the latter would make a good jigsaw puzzle!

Biology Professor Tony Rothering says, “Snow Geese are a regular winter migrant … the flocks I have been seeing this week number in the thousands! They breed in the tundra. Chris’s photos nicely show the two different color phases of this species: blue (slate-grey in reality) and white. One interesting tidbit about Snow Geese is that their numbers have increased substantially over the past 20-30 years. Some speculate that climate change may be favoring snow geese because the warmer arctic temps create more open water/resource availability for this species. Of course, this is temporary as predator populations are bound to shift as well with these long-term changes.”