Yesterday morning (10/25) I heard and saw my first "commuter" Snow Geese of the fall over the city of Everett. What I call "commuter geese" are Snow Geese that do a daytime commute from their night roost's on Skagit Bay, Port Susan, or wherever, to daytime feeding spots in the lower Snohomish River floodplain. Last year there were several thousand geese out there on the flats at times.

Downtown Everett is often right on the flight plan of these commuters, so if you're in downtown, or nearby, in mornings or evenings keep your ears peeled. As days grow shorter, sometimes they'll be going over in the dark, but being geese, their wonderfull honking will announce their presence.

Last November while working in a yard just north of downtown, several hundred Snow Geese flew over very, very low: the entire sky was full of vee's and skein's of noisy geese. As I stood there looking upward with an entranced smile upon my face, and dressed in my landscaper grubs, I'm sure I could have passed quite well as the village idiot. As it happened, a number of pedestrians were passing by during this event: none that I could see aknowledged the geese whatsoever. One lady passing nearby noticed me standing there, so I pointed up and said "look, Snow Geese!". " Oh, wow!" she said looking upward for just a moment, then continued on, eyes looking down on the pavement.Whateverett.

Jeff Gibson
Everett Wa.