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The Grace of Geese · Street Smart Naturalist

• 0:01
  SPEAKER_00: Greetings,
• 0:02
  SPEAKER_00: this is David B.
• 0:03
  SPEAKER_00: Williams and the podcast of my newsletter,
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_00: The Street Smart Naturalist, Explorations of the Urban Kind.
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_00: Every week I share my observations and adventures with the human
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_00: and natural world around Seattle, Puget Sound, and the Pacific Northwest.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_00: Today's episode highlights two of the grandest waterfowl.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_00: To learn more about my work,
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_00: including my new book,
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_00: In the Range of Fire and Ice,
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_00: A Human and Natural History of Washington's Cascades,
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: please go to my website, geologywriter.com.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_00: You'll also find a link to my Substack newsletter and my previous five and
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_00: a half years of newsletters, as well as images tied to this week's episode.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks again for joining me on this adventure,
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_00: and welcome to Podcast 95 of the Street Smart Naturalists.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_00: The Grace of Geese, October 8, 2026.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: Geese graced my morning run the other day.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_00: A flight of the big honkers was skimming the sky,
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_00: heeding the call of the seasons, and traveling south.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_00: As usually happens,
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_00: the birds' conversation of honks and cackles initially attracted my attention.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_00: Looking up,
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_00: I saw about 20 birds in the classic V formation,
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_00: Black and gray wings flapping with distinct whooshes of air.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_00: Their majestic arrows of flight are one of my favorite natural features of autumn
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_00: and an eloquent reminder that cool weather is coming.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_00: By the way, I cannot resist a bad attempt at humor.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_00: Question, why is one side of the V longer than the other?
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_00: Answer, there are more birds in it.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_00: Remember, I said it wasn't very good, and it's not.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_00: As ornithologist Arthur Cleveland Bent wrote of Canada Geese in Life Histories
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_00: of North American Wildfowl,
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_00: What man is so busy that he will not pause and look upward at the serried ranks
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_00: of our grandest waterfowl,
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: as their well-known honking notes announce they're coming and they're going?
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: He knows not whence or whither.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_00: Mr.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_00: Bent is correct.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_00: Tis indeed sad that so many men and women are,
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_00: in fact,
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_00: too busy or unaware to notice these spectacular birds as they herald
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_00: the seasonal changes.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_00: Hearing the chatter above, I often wonder what the geese are discussing.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_00: I assume that they are conversing about the weather,
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_00: where is a good place to stop and poop and eat, and which route they should take.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_00: Occasionally,
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: just one goose is speaking,
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_00: perhaps a storyteller sharing a tale with his or her cohorts.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_00: But I base these ideas on my naive human-centric focus,
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_00: and there's just as much likely that geese hold more complicated discussions.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_00: They could be addressing the complex physics of upwash and vortices,
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_00: and how the additional lift and reduced drag created by the V formation benefits
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_00: the bird's ability to fly.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_00: Or more likely is that the birds are less concerned about where they are headed
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_00: and how to get there and are more focused on not being killed by a predator
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_00: and are simply alerting others to potential issues.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_00: I also had the pleasure this weekend of seeing another flock of birds flying in formation.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_00: Marjorie and I were on top of Mount Defiance,
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_00: about 40 miles east of Seattle above Interstate 90.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_00: Looking across the serrated ridges of peaks,
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_00: we noticed shards of white light moving against the forested green hillsides.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_00: At first,
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_00: we couldn't figure out what was going on,
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_00: but then realized we were seeing dozens upon dozens of birds,
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_00: their white wings and bodies reflecting the sunlight.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_00: With my binoculars,
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_00: I discerned a couple hundred individuals,
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_00: constantly shifting dabs of white swirling from group to group.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_00: They seemed to be seeking optimal wind,
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_00: though just as likely their movements could have reflected their sheer pleasure
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_00: of flight.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_00: Periodically,
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_00: the birds vanished as if they had entered a hole in the sky, but it was more simple.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_00: The groups were turning just enough to prevent the light from reflecting off
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_00: of their white feathers and their dark silhouettes blended with the dark forest
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_00: behind them.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_00: Later in the day,
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_00: after hiking down from the summit,
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_00: we were sitting at a lake when I heard honks and honks above us.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_00: A V of birds was passing overhead.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_00: Now I could confirm what we suspected.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_00: We were seeing migrating snow geese, clearly indicated by their black wingtips.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know if they were headed south or merely circling around and possibly headed
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_00: to the Skagit River Valley, where tens of thousands annually overwinter.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_00: I've seen geese many times up there,
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_00: but never have seen them soaring in such a lovely setting as from Mount Defiance.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_00: No matter why, their flight was one of the more ethereal views I've seen in the Cascades.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_00: By the way,
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_00: geese are somewhat unusual,
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_00: or perhaps it is we humans who are odd,
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_00: in that a group of geese on the ground and a group of geese in
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_00: the air are labeled differently.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_00: Those in the air are known as a flock or skein, whereas walking geese are a gaggle.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_00: Skein comes from a French term referencing yarn or thread,
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_00: certainly a fine description of the strung out lines of flying geese.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_00: Not surprisingly, gaggle derives from the sounds that geese make.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_00: It has been applied to the birds since the 1400s.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_00: Geese also have merited another lexicological curiosity.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_00: We have bestowed upon the males of the species the term gander,
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_00: an appellation of Old English origin from the Germanic.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_00: But we have not done the same with females.
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_00: By the way,
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_00: a locally famous birder told me that ganders are also known as dudes,
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_00: but I think that just may be her secret language of birds.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_00: Still, I thought some of you might like to know how some ornithologists see the world.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_00: For some not clearly defined reason, people have long had less than favorable opinions of geese.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_00: Consider Samuel Johnson's A Dictionary of the English Language and his definition of a goose.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_00: A large waterfowl, preferably noted, I know not why, for foolishness.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_00: We also have the phrase, a silly goose.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_00: Even less kind is how many modern people see the birds as a no-good problem
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_00: whose main attribute is pooping on grass,
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_00: often in our carefully tended yards and parks.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_00: I have been annoyed by and have stepped in my fair share of goose poop,
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_00: but I forgive the birds their digestive attributes.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_00: After all,
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_00: they are simply exploiting a resource that we have created
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_00: and doing what comes naturally to them.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_00: Plus, whenever I see Canada geese flying overhead,
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_00: I cannot help but rejoice in their beauty and grace and celebrate
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_00: the wildness they represent.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_00: Once again,
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_00: this is David B.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_00: Williams,
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_00: author and voice of The Street Smart Naturalist,
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_00: Explorations of the Urban Kind,
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_00: a weekly newsletter and podcast focusing on the human
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_00: and natural world around Seattle, Puget Sound and the Pacific Northwest.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_00: If you'd like more details about my walks, talks,
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_00: and books,
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_00: including In the Range of Fire and Ice,
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_00: along with a link to sign up for my newsletter and podcast,
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_00: check out my website, geologywriter.com.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_00: And don't forget to slow down, pay attention, and enjoy the world around you.