The birds of spring arrive at Freezeout Lake

Each spring and fall, flocks of white geese make their way to Freezeout Lake located near Fairfield, Montana. They are migrating from southern wintering grounds to nesting areas in the far north. As far as Wrangel Island, Russia. Last weekend, there were a reported 15,000 geese flying through the area, landing on any one of the six ponds and lake which cover the Freezeout Lake Wildlife Management Area. However, as many as 300,000 snow geese and 10,000 tundra swans have been observed in the area at one time. They usually arrive around mid-March, and in late October of each year.

Freezeout is located just north of Fairfield on the eastern edge of the Rocky Mountain Front and is a popular site for bird watchers, and waterfowl hunters. In addition to snow geese and swans, there are more than 230 species of birds in the area including blue geese, Ross’ geese, and Canadian geese.

Most of the snow geese that migrate through this area have wintered in the Central Valley of California. They arrive after a nonstop flight of about 600 miles which takes about 16 to 18 hours. From Freezeout, they push north to Saskatchewan and Alberta, Canada. They then move north to the arctic.

The geese feed twice a day and leave the lake and ponds at sunrise and return between 10 and 11:30 a.m. They remain on the water throughout most of the day and then return to nearby fields around 4 and 5 p.m. and then fly back after dark. They feed in the fields near the lake on malt barley grain waste from the previous summer or fall’s harvest. The migrating birds stay in the area around four days before continuing on their journey north.

When visiting the area, the Wildlife Management Area’s headquarters is located to the east on highway 89. It has maps of the ponds and other literature about the birds and the area.