Tweets,

Nancy & I missed the crowds this morning, arriving at Bowerman Basin at
12:30 to find a note (thanks!) that the Beaner had been seen just about an
hour before at the Paulson Rd. turnoff. No luck there, nor at either school
yard. Nor was the bird grazing with the several hundred Canadas on the
runway grass and vicinity. We were soon joined by Keith Taylor down from
Victoria, and we figured between us we'd eventually find it. Finally, at 3
PM on our second pass along the Sandpiper Trail we noticed that a small
flock of dusky Canadas had appeared on the runway that had been absent
before. Nearby, loosely associated with them (we counted six first, later
eight duskies) was the Beaner. I would judge that the Bean Goose was
slightly larger than the dusky Canada's, which seemed to be distinctly
smaller than at least the larger of the Great Basin Canadas that seemed to
constitute the majority at the airport, but all were distinctly larger than
the somewhat smaller numbers of lesser/Taverner's types and the three Snow
Geese in the flock. We noticed that the Beaner's central retrices were
growing in, still maybe and inch shorter than the outers. All were pale
tipped, unlike the Canadas. We had fine views until at 3:30 they all took
flight, at which point we noticed a large black poodle frolicking on the
airport grass. The Beaner then disappeared to the west. The weather was not
all that bad, better than predicted.

Gene Hunn.