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So today is the second time I have ever seen another species of goose, apart from the usual Canada Goose, flying in formation over my area. To my surprise, they were large formations of snow geese. The first day there were tons of them, in several tight formations (the second day, today, was just one large "V"). I always thought they moved up and down the west coast of the U.S. and Canada into Alaska (and northern Canada) and back. Turns out they also winter in this area and on other parts of the east coast of the U.S. too. First time I have ever seen the birds outside of a nature documentary. Huh.

Of course, we may recall that the character Boris, in the Balto movies is, in fact, a snow goose as well. He is marked just like one (and it stands to reason that he would be one, given that the birds do show up in Alaska every year).

Thought it was interesting...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_Goose

Wow that's very interesting! I always wonder why Boris never migrated with the rest of the geese XD

I think it was simply to give the Balto character another character to play off of and who would be a feisty, persnickety "straight man" (in this context, meaning the often humorless personality a more comedic or dynamic character interacts with...not a sexual reference) for him. To have him migrating all the time would cut into the storylines and change the relationship of the two characters (and the relationship Boris has with the other ones).

Wow, that's neat. I bet that was surprise to see.

It was pretty amazing

Well, you certainly do learn something new everyday!

Although I'm petrified of geese, it's interesting to find out about stuff like this C:

Oh most geese aren't so bad. Some can be temperamental (or even possibly dangerous), but most are just fine. The temperamental ones will bite if they manage to chase you down. lol And their bite can hurt (so I hear), but most geese will run from a human. And they certainly will take to flight when they see a dog (especially a medium to large sized dog). And they can be beautiful...and in formation in the air, like these snow geese were, they are a sight to see!

Well, I suspect that anytime "range" maps like these are created, it is based solely upon observational research and then any birds (or other animals) which are fitted with tracking devices. And not every one of them is. And, as you speculated, perhaps over the course of time, migratory ranges can shift. So anything is possible. Granted, I didn't see a single snow goose in or around Nome during my short time there, but it may have not been the right time of year either.