No problem... thank you for the compliments!
That was actually a fairly small flock of Wrangel Island snow geese in their wintering ground. The farmers feed them around here, as part of a restoration program... hunting nearly wiped them out.
If you're lucky, you can sometimes find flocks of 10,000 or more of these guys. It's quite a sight, and the sound of that many quacks and wingbeats is quite something to behold

Oddly, these images are slightly cropped, though I don't know why. The originals are better balanced... and viewable on my blog.
Regarding awards... I'd prefer sales, since selling them means more people can enjoy them, and also it helps me to make more images like that

(I am going to have a web store up and running soon-ish... it's in the works now.)