And so, about a month ago, I waved goodbye to a handful of geese heading south. Just one ragged V, winging their way to a warmer clime.

Who knows? These birds may have started their journey in Siberia –even making it as far as Southcentral Alaska was a long trip for them. And to think of their going further – it was hard, then, as I stood waving to them to imagine this.

Well, today El and I went for a hike on the Columbia River area, outside of Vancouver, Washington. We inadvertently found ourselves in the Pacific Flyway area, which is the migratory pathway of dozens of birds, including several kinds of geese and sandhill cranes.

After walking aways along the river shoreline, we headed up a grassy slope, and in coming over the rise, we saw at the distance, a field full of sandhill cranes and snow geese. We stopped and ate lunch. We were civilized – we ate at a picnic table.

The cranes and snow geese were sharing space. The snow geese, white, seemed fairly subdued. The sandhill cranes were far more active. After a bit, a large number of them took off, going straight then making a U-turn. In making this turn, the geese changed direction, the lighting making it seem like they were changing color.

The Canada geese, who were at the field’s edge, were smaller in number. They kept to themselves whereas the sandhill cranes and snow geese hung out together.

El and I walked back to her car and drove off, past French’s Bar, which I think is the bird sanctuary area. We saw a meadowlark, and when we stopped and looked out over the river, we saw a kingfisher, which is El’s favorite kind of bird.

Unbeknownst to us, the best was yet to come. We were driving along, then saw on our right, a ragged V of Canadian geese. Then we saw another, and another, and another, and another ragged V. I never saw so many geese in my life. They just kept going past.

I do not know how the geese decide which group to fly with. Maybe it has to do with age; perhaps the slower geese hang back and take their time. I was left, of course, with questions. Do the geese stay with their respective groups, or do they change groups? Do they winter over in the same places year after year, or do they seek out other areas? Are the inexperienced youngers in the front or the rear of the lines?

Do the cranes and geese hang out together all the time, or do they eventually go their separate ways? And do they by habit have the same patterns of behavior when come spring, they head north?

I want to find out more about all this.

There were lots of airplanes flying overhead while we were on our river walk. The sky way above was also the airplane flight path. I wondered for a bit if there had ever been any aviation geese strikes in this area.

I feel a strong affinity for migratory birds. I was probably one in a previous lifetime.

Next: 312. 11/13/23: A Day of Travel