They migrate like clockwork every year along various narrow "skyways" up and down North America, arriving at their stopping points so reliably that chambers of commerce and tourism bureaus book them as the headlining act in town festivals from the Pacific Ocean to Quebec. (Bienvenue, oies des neiges!).
In Delta, where 20,000 geese are arriving in time for the Snow Goose Festival this Friday and Saturday, I thought it would be easy enough to spot them.
But the truth is, for such regimented, schedule-driven animals, the snow geese have behaved differently every time I've come to Gunnison Bend Reservoir for their annual two-week stopover.