Hello Kelly,

Yes, it sure would. I have seen Graylag Geese around the Seattle area
often enough, including a pair in Medina Park about four years ago. This
year's bird (the one that has visited our yard) is very noticeably smaller
than a Greylag, with a thin neck, small head, and dainty bill--not a whole
lot bigger than a mallard, although longer-legged and longer-necked. Also,
it is exceptionally pale. The breast and belly are darker now than when we
first noticed the bird three or more weeks ago, yet they are still much
lighter than one would expect for a Greylag Goose. In mid-October the
belly was a completely clear, very pale buff. Now it is starting to show
some faint streaking.

By the way, the goose came to visit again yesterday, when we were home and
able to observe it for a time. It appeared with an arrival of mallards,
but it did not eat with them. In fact, it doesn't seem to know what to do
with the grains the ducks pick up. We threw out some crusts of bread to
see what would happen. The mallards fought for them, but the goose was
completely baffled when chunks of bread landed under its nose. Instead, it
poked around in the grass and among rotting apples on the ground. This is
not a poultry-yard fowl.

So, that's my take. There are several races of Greater White-fronted
Goose. The tundra-breeding population is described as small, and the
immatures quite pale. The is a good fit for this bird. I tried to make it
into a Bean Goose, a Lesser White-fronted, or a Pink-footed, but that
didn't work, either. Has anyone else seen it in Medina Park?

Hal Opperman

At 7:58 PM -0800 11/2/98, Kelly Mcallister wrote:
>On Wed, 28 Oct 1998, Hal Opperman wrote:
>
>> A Greater White-fronted Goose was walking around our back yard this morning
>> around 9:00.
>
>I just posted a message about my confusion regarding four geese at the
>Hamma Hamma estuary which look just like first winter Greater White-
>fronted Geese. However, take a look at the Graylag Goose in your
>National Geographic Bird Guide and tell me how to tell the two
>apart. In Medina, wouldn't the Graylag (escaped or released) domestic
>be a real possibility?
>
>Kelly McAllister