What a great goose weekend! Wish I could have been there. Just for the record, on 13 November 2010 I had a blue phase Ross's x Snow hybrid at Knox-Marcellus marsh at Montezuma NWR, along with a white hybrid. The bird had the Ross's's blue phase coloring, quite different from the "Blue" Snows present. Although the overall look was the same, it did not have the clear, straight rear beak edge that your bird has that indicates a pure(ish?) Ross's Goose. Unfortunately, I got no photographs of my bird. Congratulations on a great sighting with good documentation.
I feel the need to comment on Shawn's statement about the records of high counts in the state. While eBird is a great tool and one of the first places I look for these kinds of data, it does not have anywhere near all of the historical data yet, and many (most?) of the listed "high counts" are nothing of the kind. A quick perusal of Bull 1974 or Levine 1998 shows published maximum counts far surpassing many of those listed on that eBird page. Lots are an order of magnitude or more higher. I do not want to take anything away from eBird. It is, perhaps, the best tool we could hope for to keep track of New York bird data and points toward a bright future. But, to rely on it alone at this point is to neglect a great, nearly 200-year-old, history of bird study in New York. There were some big changes in bird populations in the 19th and 20th centuries, and many New Yorkers were there to document them. It would be very poor scholarship indeed to ignore those contributions. Although none are available online yet, New York has more than the average number of books on the birds of the state: DeKay 1844, Eaton 1910-1914, Bull 1974, Anderle and Carroll 1988, Levine 1998, and McGowan and Corwin 2008. All are recommended references for people interested in birds of New York. NYSARC is a splendid resource, and happily all of the reports are available at http://nybirds.org/NYSARC/NYSARCActions.html. The committee does a good job of keeping track of listed species, and when push comes to shove, its reports are the only rigorously reviewed and official record of rare birds in the state. But, it does not track anything except review species, and a number of birds such as Ross's Goose have dropped off the list because of their increased frequency of occurrence in the state. Then we have to rely on published reports in The Kingbird, which fortunately also has a good web presence with a searchable archive of all issues at http://nybirds.org/KBsearch.htm. Not reported, not reviewed? Why should anyone believe them? I look forward to John's compilation of reports of Ross's Geese. The species was first officially recorded in New York in 1983 (my first was in 1991). Since then it has been reported nearly annually, with numbers increasing along with increased Snow and Ross's goose populations breeding in the Arctic. Five in one flock doesn't surprise me in the least. I expect more in the future, and will be watching for them. Best, Kevin From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Shawn Billerman Sent: Sunday, March 06, 2011 4:04 PM To: [email protected]; [email protected] Subject: Re: [nysbirds-l] Ross's Geese Hi John, I thought I'd chime in on this discussion. On October 24, 2008, Tom Johnson and I had 9 Ross's Geese on the Main Pool on the Wildlife Drive of Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge. This data, and high count data for all other species recorded in the state can be found in eBird. For NY, this data can be seen here: http://ebird.org/ebird/sightings?locInfo.regionType=subnational1&listType=high_count&beginYear=1900&continuous=true&endYear=2011&locInfo.regionCode=US-NY High count data can also be found for individual counties, hotspots, or Important Bird Areas. While some historical data may be missing and not yet entered, high count data (especially for NY) is very complete and up-to-date. It is difficult to tell, but I do believe that this is likely the first record of a Blue Ross' Goose for NY. It's a spectacular find, and has been nicely documented. Good Birding, Shawn Billerman On Sun, Mar 6, 2011 at 12:12 PM, <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: A quick search of the Kingbird Archives turned up several records of two Ross's Geese, one record of three RG, and a record of (5) five Ross's Geese present at the Savannah Mucklands 11/18/06. All other records I found indicate a single bird. If I didn't miss records, this is only the second time that (5) birds have been present in New York. I also looked for records of Blue-phase Ross's Geese and found none. John Haas -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ -- -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
