Joe Scordino notes that it’s common at this time of year to see Brant geese on Edmonds beaches, especially north of Brackett’s Landing during low tides. They’ll be here until early May when they migrate back to northern areas, Scordino said.

He sent along these two photos, taken Wednesday north of Brackett’s Landing, of a Brant goose that has a plastic band on its right leg. “The brown plastic band has a ‘Heart’ ‘S’ ‘R’ on it, which can be used to identify this bird to its location and date of birth and provide researchers data on its migratory movements,” said Scordino, a retired fisheries biologist. “I have sent photos of banded Brant Geese to the USGS Bird Banding Laboratory (through their online reporting site) in past years and the USGS responds to all reports and gives the person reporting the applicable data (birth, location, and date of banding) on the bird.

“The plastic bands are much easier to read than the metal bands, which you’ll notice in the photos can’t be fully deciphered,” Scordino added.