[obol] Hordes of Gr. White-fronted Geese

[Steve McDonald]

    Last night, from midnight to dawn, there was never a time I couldn't
hear white-fronts flying over the Eugene area.  There must have been
many thousands of them passing this one spot.  How many more flew over
other points in the upper valley and from the coast to Central Oregon?
There may have been a very successful nesting season for them.  A friend
who lives near the refuges in the Feather River drainage in
North/Central California says that only a few have arrived there, as of
this afternoon.  Quite a few of the Tule subspecies winters around
there.

     On our farm, we used to always have one or two white-fronts spend
the winter with our flock of Canada Geese and other exotic species.  One
very small bird came back for 9 seasons, always alone. From after the
first week it was there, it would eat from my hand, without any
reservations.  Maybe it had a mate and raised young up north, but they
took separate wintertime vacations?

Steve McDonald