At least four of us (John Rakestraw, Steve Kohl, Jeff (sorry on last names) and I) arrived Wed a.m. just after the BARNACLE GOOSE had flown off to the SE with a small group of Cacklers. We sat on the SE side of Rest Lake for three hours - no luck. Seeing as how small groups of Cackling Geese were peeling off from time to time and heading high to the SE, as we broke up, frustrated, I thought I'd bird back to Portland south from Ridgefield.



I found the Barnacle Goose with a large group of Cackling Geese about a mile south of Ridgefield HS on the south side of Ridgefield. It was with this large flock a mile west of NW Hillhurst Road on NW 229th St. (also shown as Williams Road), grazing in a large undulating stubble field on the south side just before the road forks. (Coordinates: 45?47'6.86"N, 122?43'14.09"W) This appears to be only a short flight (maybe a mile or so) SE of Rest Lake.



Given the provenance question, I looked hard for the hybrid thought to be associating with this bird. I saw a bird that looked very much like the bird Scott Carpenter photographed - the white "eyebrows" really stood out, but the white face seemed not as extensive. The individual I saw had more of a white neck collar, though, so perhaps there are two presumed "offspring"?



Present in their usual haunts in greater Portland were BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT-HERON (NE 5th/Brighton), SNOW GOOSE (under E side of Steel Bridge with Canadas), and YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKER on the right/east spruce tree in front of 647 Andover.



Tom Love

tlove AT linfield DOT edu