.....There is actually a question at the end of this wild goose tale, so read
on or scroll down :-) :-) :-) ....

It was one of those days when I felt the need for a break. When this
happens, I go birding, as I suspect many of you do also! My usual winter tonic away
from work is to go someplace where I will see hundreds or thousands of
Sandhill Cranes and / or Snow Geese.

Before moving to the Pacific Northwest, I would visit Bosque del Apache in
New Mexico or the Sony Bono refuge (Salton Sea) in CA; visits to these places
required a 4 or 7 hour drive, respectively, from my home in Arizona. When I
lived in Indianapolis, IN I would visit Jasper Pulaski.

But today I had only to drive less than 40 minutes to Skagit Flats (Stanwood,
WA) to find thousands of Snow Geese (Chen caerulescens). I took the rural
route from the south (Marine Drive) and, upon driving down the slight grade
before crossing the Stillaguamish River, I scanned the fields, but didn't see any
large patches of white. Feeling a little disappointed, I continued on north.
And there they were! I should have looked straight ahead instead of west
towards the sound! The majority were back in the field a ways to the west
merging into a less dense population near the paved road where I was. So I pulled
off onto a two-track farm road just a few yards so I wouldn't be a traffic
hazard, which put me between two large flat fields and south of the geese. As I
sat quietly in my vehicle the geese worked their way (they were munching grass
at a pretty good clip) towards the corner of the field near me. Soon, geese
from the inner area started flying in, in groups of 6-10, to join those nearer
the paved road (and my vehicle). Before long the field by the main road on
the north side of the two-track was filled with Snow Geese, causing quite a few
travelers to slow down or even come to a stop.

It wasn't long before geese were foraging within 8 feet of me. After a while
some of those flying in from the west edge of the mass decided to land in the
field on the south side of the two-track (farm road) and geese already on the
ground started moving, as a group, slowly across the two-track to join those
to the south. I was surrounded (well, almost....there were about 6-8 brave
geese who wandered behind my car which was facing in towards the fields...so I
was surrounded by hundreds of geese on three sides). And I, despite the
dampness of the off and on light rain, had all my windows down so I could enjoy the
goose chatter...I was about to say cacophony, but the sounds were more
enjoyable to my ears than that word might imply!

What I found really interesting, both visually and behaviorally, was that, as
the geese moved from the north side of the farm road to the south side, many
stopped and remained on the two-track. As I looked forward through my
windshield, they formed a dense carpet the width of the road for about a quarter of a
mile ahead! The field actually changed smoothly into the dirt track on the
north side, but there was a low fence (just posts and a wire) and a ditch on
the south edge of the track. Some of the geese flew over these obstacles and
landed a few yards away, but many of the others just stopped and filled up the
farm road! Is this typical goose behavior?

Since another car had pulled up behind me, then left again after taking some
photos, without disturbing the geese, I figured I could probably start my
truck and back out without causing a massive lift-off. And so I withdrew from
this wonderful experience, rejuvenated once again.

My question...actually two questions....are:

1) Does any one else from around the world have a story about a favorite
place for watching thousands of geese, cranes, etc.?
and
2) What is the best method for estimating the number of birds present in a
situation like this? I feel safe in saying there were many hundreds (probably
thousands) of individuals in the Skagit flock, but I would like to be able to
make a more confident and tighter estimate.

Peace and Happiness!

Judy Rowe Taylor
Mukilteo, WA
caratfeathers at aol.com