Date: 4/14/25 12:25 am From: Hans-Joachim Feddern via Tweeters <tweeters...> Subject: [Tweeters] Potholes Snow GeeseHans
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...>
