Date:         Wed, 6 Feb 2002 11:33:12 EST
Reply-To:     Maryland Birds & Birding <MDOSPREY@HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM>
Sender:       Maryland Birds & Birding <MDOSPREY@HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM>
From:         Paul O'Brien <PObrien776@AOL.COM>
Subject:      Barnacle Geese in MD?
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To legitimize the thread, there was a single report of 10 Barnacle Geese with
6 Richardson's-type Canada Geese at Blackwater NWR along Egypt Road at Key
Wallace Drive on Jan. 12.  Food for thought: Richardson's nest around the
mouth of Hudson Bay and as far east as the west coast of Greenland.  Barnacle
Geese nest on the east coast of Greenland.  Hmmm.

I contacted Bruce Mactavish in Newfoundland and he hasn't seen or heard of
any Barnacle Geese there but told me there was one in New Brunswick in
November.  Add that to the ones in RI, CT, Long Island (2), VA and MD.  It
makes you wonder about the possibility of an invasion, but remember that
there were those 6 escapes on Cape Cod a few years ago, and if they
reproduced and stayed together, a flock of 10 is not out of the question.  We
may never know.

But it would be nice to see them in Maryland, regardless of their origin.

Paul O'Brien
Rockville, Mont. Co., MD
pobrien776@aol.com

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