Greater White-fronted and Cackling Goose

Jack Davis Pond is a very small body of water surrounded by a few cattails at the edge of a parking-lot next to the Port of Olympia. Occasionally interesting birds are reported from the pond. Because of eBird, I was aware that someone reported seeing a Greater White-fronted Goose. We drove by the pond on 13 October but saw no birds at all. We turned around and I shouted, “Turn around—I saw a goose in the tall grass!” Erika raised her eyebrow and negotiated a U-turn. We pulled into the parking lot and found two Greater White-fronted Geese along with a small, short-billed Cackling Goose, The Cackling Goose was until recently thought to be a race of Canada Goose. The white-fronted geese lacked white patches behind their bills, indicating these were birds hatched this year. Greater White-fronted Geese are common and widespread birds. They breed in the Arctic across both hemispheres and winter south as far as Central America.