Notes about your surroundings.

Goose Watch--A trip to observe the flock of Canada geese that returns annually to the Irvine area gets under way Wednesday morning at 8. Sponsored by the student activities center at UC Irvine, the walk will begin at the southwest end of Sand Canyon Avenue, south of the San Diego Freeway.

Canada geese--with their black heads and necks and distinctive white “chin straps” that stretch from ear to ear--are visible from the freeway.

Peter Bowler, director of the UC Irvine cooperative outdoor program, said the geese have come to feed annually on the slopes of Quail Hill--about 400 acres of undeveloped rolling hills--for as long as anyone can remember.

“In the past, they have started to arrive in late November and early December,” Bowler said. “They’ve just now begun arriving this year. It’s been so dry there was no grass for them to feed on, but with the recent rains, they’ll be coming in now.”

Bowler said he spotted about 150 of the geese last week in the Quail Hill area.

Participants should bring binoculars. For more information, call the student activities center at (714) 856-5183.