[Tweeters] Potholes Snow GeeseHans

[Hans-Joachim Feddern via Tweeters]

The first bird on the second day of our Eastern Washington trip was a
Common Loon seen from our lakeshore room in Moses Lake.. A first for me to
start a day's birding! The main target on this trip was Sandhill Crane.
Since I had not been able to get to Othello any sooner, I thought it was
unlikely to still find any cranes, but it was worth a try. - More later- We
headed south on SR 17 and took the turn west to Potholes State Park. On the
way we stopped at a pull-out on O'Sullivan Dam at Potholes Reservoir.
Here we were treated to an amazing spectacle, one only nature can present:
East of the bird island(s) and further north on Potholes Reservoir there
was a heavy white line on the water. it stretched close to mile from east
to west. and consisted of a solid mass of snow geese! Above were several
thousand other geese high in the sky circling and waiting for their turn to
corkscrew in for a landing. There must have been a ground
controller guiding them in for a safe landing! It was fascinating to watch
how they managed not to collide and find a spot to land. My conservative
estimate would be of at least  30,000 + birds.
Actually I had watched the same thing happen last year from the same pull
out. That time the Snow Geese were still flying in from the south, while
this year they were already high up in the sky over the reservoir.. Last
year it was one V-formation and one line after the other. I watched them
for half an hour and there were still more coming when I left. My guess is
that these geese are wintering in California  making a rest stop on their
northward migration, but why this large compact concentration on the water?

More later in another post.

Good Birding!
-- 
*Hans Feddern*
Twin Lakes/Federal Way, WA
thefedderns at gmail.com
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