There are currently a lot of geese on eastern Long Island. Patricia Lindsay and I were able to re-find Ken’s Barnacle Goose along Daniel’s Lane in Sagaponack, as well as two Greater White-fronts there (we picked up one of these by voice, as it got up and flew out of the field).
Two Tundra Swans continue at Hook Pond, where a first-winter Lesser Black-backed Gull constituted a somewhat unusual age-date combo for Long Island (most winter birds here are adults). Heading to Riverhead, we quickly found one Pink-foot east of Roanoke Ave. and helped several other birders get distant views. As we were about to continue our quest for additional goose species, Glenn Quinn spied a white goose in the flock. Given date and context (a lone white goose in a prodigious, newly arrived flock of Canadas), we suspected Ross’s. It took a long time to get decent looks at this actively feeding, often obscured, very distant bird, but we concluded it was, in fact, a Ross’s. Head and bill structure looked excellent, and our only concerns involved the poor quality of the views (e.g., to rule out a hybrid) and the fact that the bird’s overall body size didn’t seem quite as small as usual for this species. We also managed to see and photograph (distantly) both Pink-footed Geese together. A photo of the Ross’s Goose is posted here: https://picasaweb.google.com/109808209543611018404/LongIslandMiscellany2014#5985973033597786418 We never did connect with a Cackling Goose, our original target species today, despite looking through an estimated 11,000 geese today! Shai Mitra Bay Shore ________________________________ The Campaign for CSI: For College and Community<http://www.csi.cuny.edu/foundation/> -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
