Tweets,

I was one of the birders who joined those who located the goose yesterday
behind the Emerson school.

I noticed that the pale fringes on the mantle, scapulars, and tertials that
give the bird a scaled look were not white, but pale brown, which makes me
wonder if the bird is in first-basic. Also in the scope, the fringing did
not appear too crisp, but worn somewhat. There was also what looked to be
one primary out of kilter.

The irregular-shaped orange sub-terminal band on the upper mandible was pale
edged where it met the cutting edge of the bill. A smaller sub-terminal
orange band was visible on the lower mandible.

While the bird was not extraordinarily wary, it was not aloof either. For
instance, it was alarmed when a crow, and later a Steller's Jay, called,
each time raising its head high. It also chased off a Canada Goose twice in
the 15-20 minutes I studied the bird. It's a fast runner!

This is all food for thought while some ponder the origin question.

Further directions to this site: When backtracking east from Paulson Rd.,
you pass the Hoquiam high school on the north side of the road, then after
passing Emerson on the north side (a green-trimmed building close to the
street), proceed north on Adams(?) st. to the field located behind.

Carl Haynie
Carl.Haynie at pluggablelogic.com
Sammamish, WA