Stagecoach and Branched Oak lakes were covered in white on a warm winter weekend earlier this month.
Hundreds of thousands of snow geese — smaller, less-celebrated cousins of Nebraska's famed sandhill cranes — flocked to the two Lincoln-area lakes March 3 and 4, turning heads and luring local photographers.
Mark Vrtiska, waterfowl program manager for the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, pegged the Branched Oak population at 500,000 to 750,000 geese.
"I've seen big flocks on Branched Oak, but never that many," he said Wednesday. "For anybody that was out there at the time, I'm sure it was something to remember."
People tend to exaggerate the size of flocks they report, so Vrtiska was skeptical until his technician texted from the lake.
"He didn't know what a million snow geese looked like, but he thought he had it pretty close."
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Migrating snow geese typically arrive in Nebraska just ahead of the sandhill cranes, which amass in huge numbers along the Platte River Valley each spring.
This year, the cranes started arriving a bit early because of unusually warm temperatures.
While most of the snow geese have headed north, the sandhill crane migration is nearing peak season. Vrtiska expected numbers to surpass the half-million mark next week, and encouraged people to head toward Grand Island or Kearney to see them.
"Now is the time to do it."
