Hey tweets, I knew it would drive me absolutely crazy to read posts day
after day written by people emoting about how incredible the Barnacle
Geese are, while I sit at home unable to go because of work, family, or
the hundreds of other things that tie me up. Been there, done that
with: Eurasian Kestrel; Mongolian Plover; Bean Goose; Bay-breasted
Warbler... I could go on and on about the fruitless chases when I
finally did manage to free up some time, the lost opportunities (okay,
now I have to throw in the Xantus' Hummingbird, the Black-Headed Gull,
the...)

But birding should be more about looking ahead through the front
windshield, not behind through the rearview mirror, right? Why pine for
lost rarities when who knows what will turn up next? Steller's
Sea-Eagle, anyone? It could happen, you know. One confused juvenile
gets itself over to Alaska by mistake and then just follows the salmon
run down to Lake Washington. Or a monster storm could blow a Great
Crested Grebe across the Pacific until it found a haven in Elliott Bay.
Okay, I know I have to give up my theory that a freak sirocco, hooking
up with a combination of Santa Ana winds and a howling noreaster blew
those Egyptian Geese all the way from Africa to Husky Stadium a few
years ago. But stranger things have happened.

In any case, my husband and I drove down to the Brady Loop this morning
mainly because he doesn't want to live with a wife who chews nails
because she missed another rarity. We had the good fortune to encounter
Patrick and Ruth, who excitedly told us that the Barnacle Geese were on
the far side of the Brady Loop near Wiley, in amongst a flock of Snow
Geese. We went tearing off to find the Snow Geese, leaped out of the
car, set up the scope like it was the Gold Medal round of the Bird
Spotting Olympics (waterfowl pairs), and commenced scanning. After
several anxious moments, we found the two Barnacle Geese! They were
lurking behind a line of bramble bushes and stubbornly refused to come
out. Still, we saw them. It was around 11 a.m. We have to thank the
Sullivans, not for the first time, for kindly tipping us off to the
geese's location - I'm not at all sure we would have found them on our
own.

After gazing to our hearts' content, we set off to explore the area.
All together, we had a 5-goose day: Cackling, Canada, Barnacle, Greater
White-fronted, Snow. In the afternoon (around 3 p.m), we returned to
the Brady Loop to high-five all the other birders who had seen the
birds, but the former spot was deserted. No birds. No birders. We drove
around for a while along the eastern side and there the flock was, only
a hundred yards from the road. The Barnacle Geese were in plain sight.
We saw every feather. What gorgeous birds. Their necks and breasts are
so very black; their faces creamy; the black streak from eye to bill so
soft, like a smear of charcoal; their backs so beautifully gray mixed
with black and white - no other gray is like it; it's almost silvery.

The WOS may end up calling these birds escapes, but I don't care.
They're living wild right now with the Cacklers and Snow Geese, and
they look like they'll be migrating soon when the other geese leave for
the far north. I'm just glad to live on the same planet as Barnacle
Geese. - Connie, Seattle

csidles at isomedia.com