Geese feast

Published 9:00 pm Friday, December 26, 2003

They drifted like snowflakes, large white birds with black wingtips dropping out of the turbulent shades-of-gray sky, feathers brilliant in breakthrough sunlight as they glided in groups of 50, 100, 200 to land on Fir Island green.

This may be another record-setting year in the lower Skagit Valley. Last year’s 73,000 snow geese broke the record, according to Don Kraege, waterfowl section manager for Department of Fish and Wildlife.

One of the most popular resting and feeding places in the Pacific Flyway for migratory waterfowl is at Fir Island, a heavily diked section between Skagit Bay and the north and south forks of the Skagit River.

The sociable snow geese, one of the smaller members of the goose family, don’t seem to mind living wing-to-wing in huge flocks. They’re also one of the more talkative geese.

"Frequently families stay together part of the winter and they use that (chatter) to keep together family groups. It is pretty loud, almost deafening, when you get 10,000 geese in one field," Kraege said.

Those that winter here or on the Fraser Delta came from breeding grounds on Wrangel Island in Siberia.

Although their numbers had dropped from 150,000 to fewer than 60,000 in the 1970s, restrictive hunting regulations and habitat protection have led to an increase in population, Kraege said.

The goal is 120,000 snow geese, which might be reached next summer when the Russians count the birds.

"They’ve had excellent production of young the last five years with good summer conditions," Kraege said.

A popular feeding ground is the 500-acre Fir Island-Hayton Reserve near Conway, part of the 13,000-acre Skagit Wildlife Area, full of tidelands, intertidal marsh habitat and diked upland portions.

Snow geese movements are, in part, driven by tides and light. They roost on Skagit Bay or Port Susan and feed in the mud flats at low tide. The grazers are attracted to the land by new shoots of winter wheat, Kraege said, planted in the reserve to attract waterfowl.

Birdwatchers have to be willing to move around, too.

The best locations, Kraege said, are the Fir Island-Hayton reserve, the stretch beyond the reserve toward the Snow Goose market, and the northeast part of Port Susan near Stanwood.

From Camano Island looking down into Port Susan, "they look like floating icebergs," said Sue Murphy, wildlife technician for Pilchuck Wildlife.

But birdwatchers can be a problem. They’ll stop on roads with no shoulders, creating a traffic hazard. Some will try to get closer to take pictures and cause the flock to take off.

This makes for a spectacular sight but also stresses the birds at a time when they’re consuming calories for the trek north in a few months.

"It’s actually against the law to disturb, harass or haze migratory waterfowl," Murphy said.

"If they’re flushed, they may go into power lines and die. It gives the hunters a real good opportunity to shoot them and a chance for eagles to grab them. They’re endangering the bird every time they do that," Murphy said.

"They’re building up body fats for the migration back up. When they arrive, they immediately start breeding … Every opportunity for them to eat is important for their survival," Murphy said.

Remember that the search for snow geese is half the fun. Can’t find any? Go to Plan B: a day in La Conner.