Snow Geese
Snow geese spend their summers on the tundra of Wrangel Island which is off the northern coast of Russia. In the fall, they make their way south, flying about 2,400 miles to the deltas of the Fraser, Skagit, Stillaguamish, and Snohomish rivers. Each year the nearby shores of Puget Sound host tens of thousands of snow geese.
If you visit this cache between October and April there's a good chance you'll get to see snow geese in the fields along Boe Road. The other large white birds that visit our area each winter are trumpeter and tundra swans. To tell the two apart, look at the wings. Snow geese have black wing tips (swans have all white wings). Swans have very long necks and gather in smaller groups. Sometimes you'll only see a pair of swans. You rarely see more than 100 swans in the same field. In contrast, it is common to see several hundred geese in one field. Sometimes you'll get to see several thousand snows at one time.
If geese are in the field and you have time, scan the sky for eagles. It is common for eagles to harass the snow geese by soaring closer and closer. When the eagles get too close the ENTIRE flock will take wing.
Finding the cache:
- It is always a good idea to have a pencil or pen with you.
- Please rehide the cache as well or better than when you found it.
- Please let me know if there are problems with either the cache or its coordinates.