Andy S. asked -

<snip>
> Or, is the point of landfall on northeastern Pacific shores more variable
> than generally recognized? Infrequently, "perhaps due to weather
> conditions," in some years thousands are noted passing over Port Hardy on
> Vancouver Island in British Columbia in September (The Birds of BC. Royal
> BC Mus. 1990. vol. 1, p. 262), hence staging areas in southeastern
> Washington would lie in a more direct route to Klamath Basin staging areas.
> The fact there is apparently a now-annual occurrence of white-fronts in
> southeastern Washington seems to hint vagaries in weather are not
> responsible for the geese in Washington.
<snip>

I agree that an event which occurs in consecutive years is much less likely to
have weather as a causative factor given the inconsistency of weather patterns
in these parts. However, this year is one in which it very much may have been a
factor given the strong southwesterly onshore flow at all levels which has been
prevalent off the BC coast the past week.

This begs the question as to what drives changes in bird migration patterns.
Take for example Trumpeter Swans whose migration path shifted (or expanded) from
the interior to the coast of BC some 40-50 years ago. Lots of mysteries out
there.




==========================
Jack Bowling
Prince George, BC
jbowling at direct.ca