Incredible video shows birds as far as the eye can see during Snow Goose migration at Loess Bluffs
The Kansas City-area wildlife refuge counted more than 755,000 snow geese on site last weekend
Updated: 12:36 PM CST Feb 25, 2026
Birds as far as the eye can see — that’s what visitors to Loess Bluffs National Wildlife Refuge were treated to over the weekend during the annual Snow Goose migration.Photos and video from Michelle Turner Elder show hundreds of thousands of birds converging on the area less than 100 miles north of Kansas City. Officials with Loess Bluffs conduct a regular count of waterfowl at the refuge. Last weekend wildlife experts surveyed 755,550 snow geese, along with more than 17,000 Mallard ducks, 14,000 Greater White-fronted geese, 1,000 Trumpeter Swans and 1,000 Gadwalls.Officials said bird estimates are made with Integrated Waterbird Management and Monitoring (IWMM) protocol using an area count of birds per acre, block or modified block count methods.In all, last week, the refuge saw more than 770,000 geese, 26,000 dabblers, and more than 30,000 ducks. KMBC 9 News visited Loess Bluffs around the New Year as part of the Bald Eagle migration when more than 1,000 bald eagles were observed. According to the latest count that number is down to 143.
FOREST CITY, Mo. —
Birds as far as the eye can see — that’s what visitors to Loess Bluffs National Wildlife Refuge were treated to over the weekend during the annual Snow Goose migration.
Photos and video from Michelle Turner Elder show hundreds of thousands of birds converging on the area less than 100 miles north of Kansas City.
Officials with Loess Bluffs conduct a regular count of waterfowl at the refuge. Last weekend wildlife experts surveyed 755,550 snow geese, along with more than 17,000 Mallard ducks, 14,000 Greater White-fronted geese, 1,000 Trumpeter Swans and 1,000 Gadwalls.
Officials said bird estimates are made with Integrated Waterbird Management and Monitoring (IWMM) protocol using an area count of birds per acre, block or modified block count methods.
In all, last week, the refuge saw more than 770,000 geese, 26,000 dabblers, and more than 30,000 ducks.
KMBC 9 News visited Loess Bluffs around the New Year as part of the Bald Eagle migration when more than 1,000 bald eagles were observed. According to the latest count that number is down to 143.