White Geese, or Swans?

On "SE 448 SE" (that's what the sign said) today, west of town, I stopped to see something in a stubbled field. At first I thought they were swans, so huge were they. There were two white, and two light tan birds -- two couples. The white ones looked much larger than Canadian geese, the size difference making them seem swan-like. Geese, or swans?

Canadian Geese

There was a flock of Canadian Geese in a stubbly field along 456th/Warner today, near Mt. Peak. This field had been growing corn. There was no sign of the blue heron today. Toward the end of summer there were several raptors hanging around the bottom of Mt. Peak, and hunting the surrounding fields. I may have seen one today, as it swooped down from a power line into a field and seemed to catch something, but it was too short a glimpse to be sure.

Blue Heron

The blue heron that used to hunt the fields north of Mt. Peak was back today. I hadn't seen it in those fields for a couple of years, since the construction of the new homes in the area. It was standing in a field, stock still, so still you'd think it was a wooden decoy. The other day it was standing, statue-like, in a little marsh at the bottom of Mt. Peak.

What a shame those townhouses are taking over the farm fields. If you build over the farms, what will we eat?

A field isn't an empty space; a field can feed hundreds of people.

Will we ever see the day when warehouses and other buildings are removed to make way for fields? Progress in reverse? Real progress?

We need farms and fields in order to live. The developers of the new townhouse neighbourhood are trying to turn Enumclaw into Kent. We need fields and space.