[birding] Re: [obol] Red-breasted Goose origins

[Joel Geier]

Hello folks,

Sticking just to the facts that are generally known about this goose,
and can be freely discussed on the birding lists, we are left with the
following:

In the first year in the string of recent years in which a single Red-
breasted Goose has been seen, the goose was first seen (in late winter?)
near McMinnville, then near Baskett Slough, then near Lewisburg (north
of Corvallis), and ultimately at Finley NWR. The goose took about two
weeks to travel this rather short distance (as memory serves me; the
dates are in the OBOL and MidValley list archives if anyone cares to add
some precision to this discussion; I have additional notes that I will
hunt through after dealing with taxes etc.). 

After arriving at Finley, the Red-breasted Goose was seen there with
some regularity for the rest of the winter, until around the time when
cackler flocks began to depart. Reports were generally of the goose
being seen on the ground, rather than flying with flocks.

In subsequent years, so far as I'm aware the goose has been reported
only around Finley. This year we hear that the goose flies well with the
wild flock that it has taken up with.

This pattern fits with the premise of an initially unattached, weakly
flying goose goose finally hooking up with a flock that stayed in one
wintering area, so that it could stick with the flock while it built up
flight strength. If the goose migrated in as a wild bird, one expects
that it would have arrived with and wintered with the same flock in that
first year, rather than drifting around.

If one hopes to resolve this question through scientific means rather
than argumentation that relies on subjective impressions of personal
character, then the best avenue might be to compare this bird's initial
trajectory with late-winter goose flock movements in the Willamette
Valley. 

Hard data from tracking of radio-collared geese around the valley would
seem to be the place to start. "Soft" evidence based on observations of
other distinctive geese that show up with valley flocks (Brants, Snow
Geese, Ross's Geese etc.) could also be considered -- do these birds
tend to move progressively south through the valley in late winter, or
do they generally stay in the same areas?

Happy birding,
Joel

--
Joel Geier
Camp Adair area north of Corvallis