Did you know that some local Snow Geese are being tracked year-round to gain a better understanding of their migration routes to and from their breeding grounds on Wrangel Island, Russia?
In March 2023 and February 2024, some Snow Geese were fitted with satellite telemetry collars that log locations of each goose every 15 minutes.
Researchers can access the data when birds are in proximity to cell phone towers. When they are in remote areas, such as Alaska and Russia, the data are stored until they are back in range. Besides tracing their migration routes to and from Wrangel Island, the telemetry collars record movements during nesting season, and winter habitat use of the Fraser River and Skagit River estuaries
Since late September, we have been watching the Snow Geese “check in” to their local wintering areas after their 5,000 km long migration from Wrangel Island.
Most of the birds tagged in the Skagit this spring are back in the Fraser/Skagit region for the winter. The GPS data from each tracked goose likely represents the spring and fall migration patterns of 10s to 100s of Snow Geese as they tend to fly in small flocks.
Some Skagit geese followed the B.C. coast during their north and south migrations, but five went east and north through Alberta in spring and returned south along the coast in fall. One went both ways through Alberta and is still there.
We are also discovering that “Skagit” birds do not just use the Skagit estuary. Some have moved to Lynden, Washington and are making forays into Langley, Abbotsford, Chilliwack and sometimes Delta.
This project is a partnership of Environment and Climate Change Canada, the Reifel Bird Sanctuary, and Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife.
For more information, visit: https.//reifelbirdsanctuary.com/trackingwildgeese.html.
Editor’s note: Nature Notes is a monthly column produced by the Delta Naturalists and their community partners.
For information on monthly meetings and more, see: www.deltanaturalists.org and www.facebook.com/DeltaNats.
