Scott and Tweeters,

Your wish is my command --

For the last 10 years of Sequim-Dungeness CBCs from 1988-1998 (no count
in 1990 because of an ice-storm), the Canada Goose average count was 428
(range = 77 to 746) and the Brant average count was 1023 (range = 371 to
2433). In the 23 years of the SDCBC, Canada Geese have outnumbered Brant
only 4 times -- 1979-1981, and in 1996.

Dungeness Bay, with its sizable eelgrass beds, is the drawing card for
the Brant. The eelgrass beds are a focus of concern, due to increased
sedimentation and disturbance from oystering and crabpots. Many oldtime
Sequimites claim the wintering Brant population is now a fraction of what
it used to be, but I haven't seen any hard numbers to confirm this.
SDCBC Brant counts within the last 10 years have been several times
higher than the counts in the mid-1970s, but this could be due to better
coverage, such as offshore boats. The USFWS has census data for the same
period, but I don't have them available right here.

Bob Boekelheide
Sequim

>Tweets,
>Somebody correct me if I'm wrong here. I believe that the Dungeness NWR
>was formed to provide santuary for the Brant populations. The numbers
>around the spit area are among the largest in the state, or so I've read.
>
>Some areas are CAGO deserts despite having so many in the Greater Seattle
>area. For the Port Gamble CBC in North Kitsap CAGO avg is 31 while Brant
>avg is 51.7. Not that I'm suggesting the Sequim area are CAGO deserts,
>I've certainly seen enough of them there, but on an average visit I
>probably see more Brant than CAGO's. Could anybody provide averages,
>perhaps CBC info for Sequim to either confirm or deny this?
>Thanks,
>
>Scott Downes