Thank you to all of the people on the list who continue to report on the BARNACLE GOOSE at Van Cortlandt Park. I really appreciate the details of the whereabouts and when to try to view the bird. Today I drove up from Arlington, VA to see it, and I had success. I arrived and parked at 251st St & Broadway at 10:00AM, and after about ten minutes of scanning I found the BARNACLE GOOSE.
The CACKLING GOOSE was a little more difficult, but after another 20 minutes, I found the goose that looks identical to the one photographed by Andrew Baksh ( http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/msg09055.html). In particular, this bird had a thin white half-ring separating the black neck and the light brown upper breast, like the "Aleutian" Cackling goose, but not as prominent. In addition to being shorter and smaller overall than Canada Geese, its head rounded and short stubby bill, another feature that stood out on this bird was the color and size of the white face patch looked slightly brighter and covered a greater percentage of its face compared to the Canada Geese in the field. It was a long day, but a great one. Thanks again NY birders. David Flynt Arlington, VA -- 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/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/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/ --
