Date: Sat, 7 Dec 2002 12:48:49 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: "Marko, Thomas L. GS BUMED" Subject: Lake Needwood - Hybrid Goose? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Lake Needwood, Montgomery County MD, 7 Dec 02, 1100: A crystal-clear morning walk around Lake Needwood provided a great view of an unusual goose preening along the shoreline. The bird was among 1000+ Canada Geese in the small area of open water (at least 90 percent of the lake is frozen over). Compared to the surrounding Canada Geese, the bird's overall size and build was larger and it stood taller on longer legs. The legs were orange-yellow in color and the bill black. The plumage was similar to a Canada Goose however the head was predominately white and mottled with patches of black. My hunch is a hybrid Canada/Greater White-fronted Goose. Tom Marko Olney, MD MOS-MCC tlmarko@us.med.navy.mil ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================