While driving home from work, on Sunrise Highway, I noticed a large flock of geese flying south across the highway heading toward West Brook Pond. Knowing that West Brook is a popular goose roost I decided to go investigate.
I had just enough light to glass the pond and sure enough, picked out the ROSS'S GOOSE among the many Canada Geese at about 5:40 PM. The geese were situated toward the north end of the pond. The Ross's Goose will very likely spend the night on West Brook. I check West Brook fairly routinely. It seems geese begin their departure between 7:30 and 8:00 AM, so the earlier the better if you plan on trying for this goose. Also, it is very easy for geese to "hide" behind the north islands in the pond, so just a heads up on that. The viewing area for West Brook Pond is located on the north side of Montauk Highway, about 1/4 mile east of the entrance to Bayard Cutting Arboretum. As I mentioned, the birds flew in from the north and there are some popular feeding field towards the NW; 1) East Islip High School and 2) the Cohalan Court Complex (near the LI Ducks Stadium). I think its safe to say that this is undoubtedly the same Ross's Goose that I reported from Timber Point on 2/2/13. Looks like it moved north and found a larger herd. http://www.flickr.com/photos/39025168@N07/ Best, Derek Rogers Sayville -- 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/ --
