One morning last week I heard what sounded like a sizable flock of geese flying overhead, so I decided to head outside and take a look. I saw two large groups, both flying northwest over town. Connor and Rowan later told me they had seen the same flocks out by Whale Park while they were riding the bus. I’m not sure why they were heading in opposition to their seasonal migration direction, but my guess is they were looking for a suitable place to put down after flying through much of the night (a few days before, I had heard many flocks flying overhead through the night).

See below for a modified version of the first image with counts.

Pale Mallard observed at Swan Lake.

One of the Mallards that hatched out earlier this year is unusually pale. I am curious if the different coloring will persist as it matures.

Greater White-fronted Goose observed at Swan Lake.

One of the Greater White-fronted Geese that were here this spring seems to have been left behind. It seems likely at this point that the bird will remain for the summer and join with a south-migrating flock this fall.

I also noticed an American Wigeon when I was at the lake.

The first report of a large flock in town was Friday morning, April 24. A commercial fisherman noted a flock of over 200 geese at the Turnaround and reported it to the Sitka Birds e-mail list. Over the days that followed, there were several more reports from the Turnaround, Totem Park and Starrigavan.

A conversation with Paul Norwood about some observations he made on a recent kayak trip south of town provided a suggestion as to why they showed up like. He mentioned seeing 2000 geese flying north over Biorka Island on Thursday, April 23. He said there was a light Northwest wind at the time, but it strengthened throughout the day, and later there were many smaller flocks flying back from the north in toward land.

Marge Ward and Marlys Tedin said there had been a similar abundance of Greater White-fronted Geese around town in 2002. Thanks to their detailed records, I was able to find the first large flocks were reported on the morning of May first at Swan Lake. A quick check of the weather history revealed there had been a strong Northwest wind blowing most of the previous day.

Given the weather immediately preceding the arrival of geese in 2002 and again this year, a strong Northwest winds provides a plausible explanation for the goose invasion. However, it is not yet clear whether there were other years when the Northwest wind blew during migration and geese did not show up in town. Maybe the cold winter and early spring also played a role. With snow and ice still persisting on even lower elevation lakes, perhaps locations the geese might ordinarily prefer were not available. Or, perhaps the typical migration route for these geese takes them up Chatham Straight or further east along the mainland. It would be interesting to know if large flocks of geese move up the outer coast, flying across the mouth of Sitka Sound most years, only moving into town in years when unfavorable winds push them back.

Later in the day the kids and I saw a bunch of fish in Crescent Harbor that I think are shiner perch.

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