Snow Goose

Erika and I enjoyed initiating our 2022 Year List on 1 January 2022. We listed a respectable 48 species of birds. Perhaps the most noteworthy was a flock of 60 Snow Geese. These geese are unexpectedly uncommon at the Nisqually national wildlife refuge. The species winters across most of the United Stated and, regionally, is abundant north of Seattle and in central California. Usually we only find a few at the refuge in the winter. We believe our estimate of 60 birds is conservative (there could well have been nearly 80). The geese may be moving south after a few nights with temperatures in the lower teens north of Seattle. Wahl et al. (2005) confirm that this species does disperse to the southwest during cold winters. In any event, the geese flew overhead, circled in the distance, and may have landed in the southwest corner of the refuge.