Subject: Another Pink footed Goose sighting?
Date: Feb 21 19:04:12 2004
From: Ruth Sullivan - godwit at worldnet.att.net


Hello Tweets,

Today my mother and I located a single Pink-footed Goose at 1:30pm amongst a fairly large flock of Canada Geese and a single immature Greater White-fronted Goose just west of Foster Rd. along Brady Loop Rd. in eastern Grays Harbor Co. The Pink-footed Goose was observed and photographed foraging and resting in a large grassy field amongst the other geese and both species of swans,but the flock of geese were flushed and flew west to the wetland area along the western portion of Brady Loop Rd.,where the Pink-footed Goose and the Greater White-fronted Goose were relocated 10 minutes later. The Pink-footed Goose appeared to be injured due to hopping around,as it foraged amongst the geese flock,but it did remain wary and cautious. Our question and theory is this bird could be a different bird than the two previous bird at Hoquiam earlier in the season,which were last observed on the 11th of January. The bird showed a more distinctive darker browner head and neck area than the Hoquiam birds and showed more distinctive gray on the mantle rather than bluish-gray,as observed on the ground. In flight the bird showed slightly bluish-gray in the wings,but not nearly as distinctively as the Hoquiam birds. Could this be a different bird? It is very possible or perhaps the plumage on this bird changed in the period of time between the11th of January to today. Nevertheless,we were very excited to locate this bird as it strongly appears that increasing numbers of Canada Geese are moving around compared to our last visit to Brady Loop Rd. on the 8th of February. We observed small numbers of "Dusky"Canada Geese at several locations within the Brady Loop Rd. complex amongst other subspecies of Canada Geese,including "Cackling"Canada Geese and 1 apparent partial albino Canada Goose. It will be interesting if the Pink-footed Goose will remain at this location or move around the Elma-Brady valley.

Another species of note we encountered was a Golden Eagle that was observed along Brady Loop Rd. east of Foster Rd. in flight at 12:45pm,then relocated perched in a tall Black Cottonwood tree just south of Gillis Rd. in a large,open field along the eastern portion of Brady Loop Rd.,where it was photographed. The bird finally flew and continued to the west then south along the ridgeline above the Satsop River in the direction of the Satsop Nuclear Power Plant,where it was observed soaring on uplifted wings,then the bird traveled easterly along the ridgeline,where it was observed as it landed atop a conifer tree near a group of houses along the hillside. This is presumably the same individual bird than we observed on the 8th of February due to the field marks matching compared to that bird,but shows less pale areas in the wings and tail. We made a drive on the hillside above Brady Loop Rd. via Keys Rd. and Keys Rd. West,but were unable to relocated the Golden Eagle,but accessed a location that offered excellent views of the entire Brady valley below and the Olympic Mts.

Other notable species observed along the Brady Loop Rd. complex during our visit included the following species:

48 Tundra Swans
24 Trumpeter Swans
15 Ring-necked Ducks
3 Northern Harriers
2 Rough-legged Hawks
4 Am.Kestrels
1 adult Peregrine Falcon
1 Western Scrub Jay
1 Savannah Sparrow
24 Golden-crowned Sparrows
18 Western Meadowlarks
1 Purple Finch

A few other species observed to and from destinations in the general Elma-Brady area included the following:

33 swan species observed along Hwy.12(east of Keys Rd. near Satsop)
4 Am.Kestrels along Hwy.12 between Elma and Brady(with an additional bird noted along Keys Rd. north of Wenzel Slough Rd.)
4 Wilson's Snipes at the Schouweiler Rd. wetland near Elma
2 Western Scrub Jays along Hwy.12(with 1 at Elma and 1 at Brady)


On our way home we stopped by a few locations in Thurston Co. including the Mud Bay area(accessed along Hwy.101 along Madrona Beach Rd.)and the Nisqually NWR between 3:45pm-5:25pm,where we added a few additional species of note to our day list along with several highlights including the following:

Canada Goose
600+ at the Nisqually NWR

Ring-necked Duck
11 at the Nisqually NWR

Barrow's Goldeneye
13 at Mud Bay

1 adult Bald Eagle with a freshly caught Am.Wigeon at the Nisqually NWR(with another adult bird and immature bird nearby)

Northern Harrier
5 at the Nisqually NWR

Red-tailed Hawk
14 at the Nisqually NWR(including 2 dark-morph birds)

Am.Kestrel
1 along Hwy.101 at Mud Bay

Peregrine Falcon
1 adult at the Nisqually NWR

Black-bellied Plover
1 at the Nisqually NWR

Greater Yellowlegs
8 at Mud Bay(Perry Creek)

Dunlin
10 at Mud Bay(Perry Creek)

Short-eared Owl
1 at the Nisqually NWR

Tree Swallow
8+ at the Nisqually NWR

Northern Shrike
2 at the Nisqually NWR


En route to Brady Loop Rd. this morning we stopped at Capital Lake near Tumwater in Thurston Co.,where we observed 7 Redheads(4 males,3 females)and 2 Canvasbacks along the paved trail at the Interpretive Center.


Good birding,

Ruth and Patrick Sullivan
Tacoma,WA
godwit at worldnet.att.net