A Snow Goose Named 5-1V

Each year we witness grand tides of migratory life. Cranes rattle overhead; geese wing south from their breeding grounds; tiny warblers rain into coastal brush after battling a headwind on their way north across the Gulf of Mexico. And it is possible through banding programs to follow individuals, to learn in detail their migratory routes.

Snow and Ross's Geese join Sandhill Cranes in stubble 

at Bosque del Apache NWR (Photos by Narca)

One of the real pleasures of a winter trip to Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge is the opportunity to contribute to what is known of the wanderings of Snow and Ross's Geese, by recording the numbers and letters written on any neck collars that we may be lucky enough to see. Banders use particular colors of neck collars for each major nesting colony.

The geese have traditional breeding grounds: Snows wintering at the Bosque are usually from the Western Arctic or Central Canadian Arctic region. Big colonies nest at Prudhoe Bay, Banks Island and Queen Maud Bay. Ross's Geese traditionally have nested in the Queen Maud Gulf region, with a more recently established nesting colony around the McConnell River in western Hudson Bay.

This map shows the main seasonal ranges of Lesser Snow Geese and Ross's Geese in the western Central Flyway. It is based on a map in an article, "Status of Lesser Snow Geese and Ross's Geese wintering in the Interior Highlands of Mexico," by Rod Drewien, Alberto Lafon Terrazas, John Taylor, Manuel Ochoa Barraza and Ruth Shea, published in the Wildlife Society Bulletin in 2003.

As we scan the masses of white geese with our scope, we find on Snow Geese the black-writing-on-yellow collars of geese banded at Queen Maud Bay and the white-writing-on-black collars of geese from Banks Island. Waterfowl biologist Rod Drewien tells us that on very rare occasions, he finds at Bosque the red collars of birds banded on Wrangel Island. Those are becoming very scarce, since the Russians have stopped their banding program, so only the older birds still wear the red collar of Wrangel.

Snow Goose 5-1V allows me to take a distant photo through the scope. After some research, Rod tells me that 5-1V is a female banded in the year 2000 at Queen Maud Bay. In subsequent years, she has been reported up and down the flyway, and this is the second year that Rod has seen her here at Bosque del Apache.

Banding studies have revealed that families from the multiple nesting colonies of Snow and Ross's Geese head south, then mix with families from other colonies on the wintering grounds. The young geese form their pair bonds on the wintering grounds, and the young male then accompanies the young female back to her natal colony to start a family of their own. A constant, strong genetic mixing is the result of this pairing strategy.

So the next time you are enjoying the spectacle of a blizzard of white geese, watch for neck collars! If you are able to read the numbers and letters, make a note, and report it to wildlife refuge personnel. You'll be helping to map the wanderings of a bird like 5-1V!

Dawn at Bosque del Apache

Skagit River Flats

After days of visiting family and painting a playroom to look like a ferny forest inhabited by dinosaurs, I step onto the night ferry from Port Townsend to Whidbey Island, Washington. The lights of town recede, and the dark waters and crisp night air of Puget Sound envelop the ferry.

My friend Jim Shiflett is waiting at the dock for the ferry's arrival.

Next day finds us in the flats of the Skagit River Valley and on Fir Island, which lies between the north and south forks of the river, bordering the estuary. Clouds hide, then reveal the sun. There's hardly a breath of wind. Western Washington is enjoying its warmest January on record.

Dark-morph Rough-legged Hawk (Photo by Narca)

We're in prime raptor habitat, although today the hawks and falcons are little in evidence. A rare dark-morph Rough-legged Hawk regards us. I'm struck again by how small its bill is, when compared to a Red-tailed Hawk's. A couple of Merlins dash past. Bald Eagles abound, numbering perhaps 40 or 50. Pairs perch near their huge stick nests, ready for the next nesting effort.

Thousands of Dunlin sleep in a field. (Photo by Narca)

We find a big concentration of Snow Geese. Those that winter here in the Skagit Valley return each spring to breed on Wrangel Island, in the Arctic Ocean north of Russia. (Wrangel also has the world's highest density of Polar Bear dens, and Woolly Mammoths survived the longest on Wrangel, until about 1700 years ago!)

A storm of Snow Geese from Wrangel Island (Photo by Narca)

The Snow Geese share the Skagit Valley with literally thousands of wintering Trumpeter Swans. Many of the local farmers are paid to raise forage for the swans. However, we see two fields where swans and geese are discouraged in a novel way: the farmer has put out a Bald Eagle decoy in the center of each field, and the ruse appears effective. Neither of the fields holds a single other bird!

Tideland habitat of Short-eared Owls (Photo by Narca)

In the tidelands, masses of driftwood pile up, interspersed with swathes of grass. Short-eared Owls roost in these twisted roots and logs, emerging in late afternoon to hunt. One perches atop a small conifer growing amid the wrack––how beautiful these owls are!

Short-eared Owl (Watercolor by Narca)

Winter Interlude: Bosque del Apache

Snow Geese at Sunset (Photo by Narca)

The Rio Grande River hosts many thousands of wintering Sandhill Cranes, Snow Geese, Ross's Geese, and other waterfowl. Nowhere can these spectacular flocks be enjoyed and photographed more beautifully than at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge.

The experience isn't simply one of enjoying impressive flocks of impressive birds. Somehow, when these birds are placed in the Bosque habitat, rich with the rusts and golds of winter, and beneath the expansive New Mexico sky, the whole encounter wakes me up, deeply. The clear light, the cold air, the rattle of cranes––all of it is profoundly rousing.

This time I've journeyed to the Bosque with Noel Snyder, Tony Donaldson and Rod Drewien. Rod is actually working, counting the geese, while the rest of us play. His counts this year of the white geese reveal a mix of roughly 75% Snow and 25% Ross's Geese. Rod has censused geese and cranes for decades, and brings exceptional expertise to the task.

Tony in the lineup (Photo by Narca)

At the Bosque, ponds along the lightly-used highway north of the refuge are a traditional lounging site for geese and cranes. Photographers also stage here at dawn and dusk, hoping to capture that perfect moment when light bathes the waves of incoming cranes and geese. We endure the early morning cold, to watch as sunlight begins to limn the cranes and to ignite the white geese.

Sandhill Cranes (Photo by Narca)

Two coyotes cruise along the shore and cause momentary alert interest among the cranes.

Coyotes and Sandhill Cranes (Photo by Narca)

The cranes stir, preen, dance. We know when they begin to contemplate flight, because the arousing birds stalk towards the edge of the gathering, craning their necks. Soon wave after wave of cranes is airborne, off to find the day's forage. In evening they return to their safe harbor for the night, as do we.

Dusk at Bosque del Apache (Photo by Narca)

Pure Magic

Frosty morning at Bernardo (Photo by Narca)

Bernardo Wildlife Management Area, north of Bosque del Apache in New Mexico, is attracting huge numbers of Sandhill Cranes, Snow Geese and Ross's Geese this winter. Their corn crop is ample, and many thousands of cranes and geese are feasting on the bounty.

Noel Snyder, Tony Donaldson and I arrive early on this very cold morning. Frost envelops the sparkling plants. A trio of Mountain Bluebirds watches our progress along the canal. Temperatures plunged to 12º F last night, and many of the flying cranes have folded their legs, tucking their toes under their belly feathers to warm them. Usually cranes fly with extended legs, and these seemingly legless, truncated birds look odd indeed.

Cold toes (Photo by Narca)

At Bernardo we are able to draw closer to the cranes and geese than at Bosque. Our slow arrival by car stimulates the cranes to dance, perhaps as displacement behavior. They are slightly agitated, slightly nervous, and dancing seems the thing to do in response.

Dancing Sandhill Cranes (Photos by Narca)

Snow and Ross's Geese descend in a blizzard of white, against the wintry New Mexico sky.

Geese over cranes at Bernardo (Photo by Narca)

Bernardo is part of the complex of refuges along the Rio Grande between Socorro and Albuquerque. Much of the area is closed to minimize disturbance to wintering birds, but you can drive the 3.5-mile tour loop. Take exit 175 from I-25, and immediately turn north along the road (314) which parallels the interstate. Within a couple of miles you'll reach the entrance to the tour loop. The habitat here is more agricultural than at Bosque del Apache. Getting so close to these impressive birds is a real treat!