Between Now and the Festival Date, Watch for Site Updates!

Interested in being a food vendor during the Snow Goose Festival? If so, Please contact us.
Any food vendors must have requisite food handling permits in place.

FESTIVAL EVENTS
Download Registration Form Here	2009 Wild Goose Chase Run / Walk February 21, 2009 Sherwood Shores Subdivision Registration @ 9:00 am Race starts @ 10:00 am	Need the Free Adobe Form Reader Program?
	Annual Snow Goose Festival Dinner (date and time to be determined) Millard County Fair Building, South Manzanita Avenue Tickets $00.00 per person (amount tbd) Featured Speaker to be determined ... There will also be some local talent to entertain you that evening.
Annual Quilt Show $3 Entry Fee Contact the Delta Area Chamber of Commerce for more information at the number above. For More Quilting Ideas, visit http:www.quilts4you.com

COME VIEW THOUSANDS OF LESSER SNOW GEESE DURING THEIR ANNUAL MIGRATION

One of the seasonal signs that winter has ran its course is the annual congregation of Lesser Snow Geese in the area around the Millard County community of Delta, Utah. Each February thousands of these beautiful birds use the farm fields and bodies of water between the Clear Lake Wildlife Management Area and the Delta, Utah area as a resting point on their northern migration. There is no other site in the State of Utah that offers the chance to see so many snow geese in one place. The sight and sound of thousands of snow geese in the air and upon the water in such a concentrated gathering, we believe is one of the most incredible wildlife experiences available. We feel that our festival will provide fun for you and your entire family!

We can assure you that the residents of the Delta area and all of Millard County are excited to have visitors within our midst and will be glad to offer you assistance in whatever way they might be of aid to you. Please note that when you come to participate in the festival, the majority of the places from which the geese can be viewed from is upon private property, so we ask that you be courteous and respectful of the property owners.

Should you find yourself in need of services provided by public safety officials or emergency medical personnel while in Millard County, Utah, please dial 9-1-1 for assistance; for non-emergency services provided by public safety officials please call 435-864-2755 from the Delta area. If you require non-emergency medical services you can visit the Delta Community Medical Center located at 126 South White Sage Avenue on the east side of Delta, phone 435-864-5591.

EDUCATION

These geese spend the winter in and around the Imperial Valley in southern California. There they feed and prepare for their migration north. In early February they begin to fly north usually arriving in the Delta area around the mid-to-latter part of the month. By the middle of March the majority of them have moved onward and are headed toward breeding sites on the Anderson River in the Northwest Territories of Canada.

Although Snow Geese reach maturity at two years of age, most of them do not breed until they are into their third year of life. At that time the females will lay between two and ten eggs with most nests having less than five eggs on average within them. The females do the majority of the incubating of the eggs while the males tend to stand guard to ward off other geese and threatening predators. It is not uncommon for the female to lose twenty-five percent of her body weight while nesting with the unborn geese. The gestation period for these geese ranges between nineteen and twenty-four days.

The females brood the young for about three weeks after which both parents will then lead the brood on daily swimming and feeding forays. The young geese will start making their first flights around thirty-five days of age and are fully fledged by forty-five days old. By the end of August each year they are ready to begin their southerly migration to California. Prior to the end of August, and starting around the beginning of July, the adults molt their feathers and are unable to fly until their new feathers come in by August-end. Since Snow Geese are extremely dedicated parents they are very successful nesters, regardless around fifty-percent of the young geese do not survive to return to the nesting grounds.

The geese that do congregate in the Delta area spend much of their morning and evening hours in the agricultural fields feeding on young shoots of volunteer grain and weeds. During the day they are found on bodies of water or laying low in the fields if the weather is bad.

Arctic-breeding populations are at record high levels. The over abundant geese are destroying breeding habitat in the arctic ecosystem and causing crop damage in staging and wintering areas. The geese occupy fragile arctic lowlands during the summer months, where they cause damage to vegetation and soils from over-grazing. The damaged ecosystem requires decades to recover, and the effect on other species may be significant. Excessive goose populations can also damage agricultural crops where large numbers of geese stop during migration. The large goose populations may also be having serious effects on other species living in the same arctic habitats (coastal plains and river estuaries). A possible solution in the case of mid-continent snow geese would be to increase the harvest level by hunters by a factor of 2 to 3.

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LINKS (BIRDING & OTHER)

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AREA MAPS

FOOD & LODGING

Besides food and lodging, please visit any of these local merchants to meet your consumer needs.

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PHOTOS

Photo courtesy of Peggy Overson.

Photo courtesy of Ted Harris.

Unknown Photographer.

Unknown Photographer.

Unknown Photographer.

Photo courtesy of Ted Harris.

Unknown Photographer.

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