Summary: Uncommon on northern migration, occasional on southern migration. Casual Winter resident. Along the road system, most likely to be found at Swan Lake, Moller Field, Starrigavan Estuary, or Totem Park. Presumed to occur in similar habitats in the greater Sitka area.

	Spring	Summer	Fall	Winter
Sitka Road System	Uncommon	Rare	Occasional	Very Rare
Sitka Area*
*Unless otherwise noted, occurrence in the Sitka Area is unknown or presumed similar to that on the road system

Typical Spring Migration: Fourth week in April to second week of May.

The Greater White-fronted Goose is typically seen in the Sitka area only during Spring and Fall migration. There are often several sightings in the spring, but the birds rarely stay for long. In the fall, the sightings are less common and typically of fewer individuals, though the birds that do show up will often be seen in the same location(s) for days or weeks before moving on. Observations of this species through the winter are unusual. They are not known to occur through most of the summer, with the latest spring observations the last week of May, and the earliest fall (late summer) observations in late August.

As with many of the species that move through Sitka primarily as migrators, there is some question whether they may be more abundant off the road system due to better habitat and less human activity.

Observation Notes:
September 2006: Two geese observed at Moller Park and Swan Lake for at least 3 weeks.
October-November 2006: Lone juvenile observed at New Thompson Harbor over a number of weeks.
29 May 2006: Late migrating flock of 10 geese seen at Swan Lake.
29 April 2006: Lone Greater White-fronted Goose with flock of ~100 Brant at Port Krestof.

My Comments:
My first experience with a Greater White-fronted Goose took place in late 2002, the first fall/winter I was back in Sitka to stay. There was a single goose that spent at least a couple of weeks on the Sheldon Jackson College quad. It had an injured foot, but seemed to get around okay. On more than one occasion I heard about the invasion of these geese that had occured a winter or two before. I was told that ‘1000s’ of them descended on the lawns around town, and every time they went to fly off, they got blown back by another storm. In the end, they were said to have stayed for several days and left a lot of droppings on all the big lawns in town.

J Dan Webster
Sparse migrant and rare winter visitant. Willett (1914) listed April, September, and October records. Bailey (1927) saw a few daily in Hoonah Sound, 8 to 17 May 1920. Hanson has seen flocks in September and October and killed one or two in the 1980s; on 24 August 1986 he saw a flock of 75 pass over Goddard. Johnson saw one for two weeks in November 197 [sic] and a group of four at Starrigavan Creek around 11 May 1976 (Kessel and Gibson). Ward and Tedin (Tobish 1997,1999,2002) reported many in the early fall of 1996, with singles until 30 November, and one that lingered all that winter; also 1 to 12 December 1998, and one all winter of 2001-2. I saw a flock of 30 in Nakwasina Pass 3 March 2002. Recorded on three of the 28 Christmas counts.