Anybody else noticed less ducks and geese, at least on the westside? Seems to me, at least in places I look/hunt, that there are fewer birds.

I'd say the geese are down at least 75% and ducks even more. We used to have hundreds out our front window on Budd Inlet and now we see tens.

Have they gone elsewhere or are they just gone?

Way, Way less this year all across the US.
My buddy has all the prime water around the Chehalis valley and said this year was a complete flop.
His DU buddy told him it was a huge nation wide decline.
Will be interesting to see how he does in Mexico.

I had read somewhere that the Pacific Coast has been hit by bird flu. It was supposed to hit Cacklers hard, and they are one of the missing species. But my experience is that the decline has been longer.

We used to bird around Brady Loop Road, near Monte and there used to be hundreds of swans, thousands of geese, the occasional cranes, and lots of ducks. Now, two or three of anything is a lot.

Probably doesn't mean much, but I was driving my daughter to work in Steilacoom fairly early this fall through middle of January. Multiple times flocks of several hundred geese would fly over the area as I was driving. These were by far the biggest groups I have ever seen.

There is lots talk about waterfowl shifting wintering areas. Apparently a lot of the formerly Skagit snows are over east of the Cascades. Still seems a lot less overall. Probably a combination of things.

08/08/2026

Well it might be all of the above but in the area East of Montesano Wa there is hundreds of areas of farm land that used to be planted in sweet corn, peas, hay, and other things.

The corn and peas were taken to Chehalis and processed. All the processing moved to Eastern WA, for many years the fields were planted with more hay, field corn. Prices for those weren't what they had been getting so when they were approached to rent their land for the items used in making Kimchi, many jumped right on it.

What I see is the many thousands of all kinds of waterfowl that used to be in the "Brady loop area" are not stopping, like they used to. Oh sure, there are still some but now some waterfowl but many of the areas are planted, just about year around with the Kimchi making vegetables.

I don't hunt but others that have leased or bought land "just to have places to hunt", some over 50 years are going other places or just having "less birds to shoot"

I'm in that area from September to December/January fishing in the Chehalis and can tell you "The waterfowl just aren't there"!!!!