Re: Small Canada Geese in MD
Don Henise (deheni@ark.ship.edu)
Fri, 20 Mar 1998 17:12:01 -0500
Miliff wrote:
>
> Don Henise has told
> me that his report of "Richardson's" among Snows several weeks ago at Middle
> Run was based primarily on his assumption that that is the expected race. But
> he reports that the birds were "dark chested", which suggests _minima_.
> Apparently photos were taken, but unfortunately, the photos may have been lost
> by the developers.
I was away birding in New Jersey for a few days last week and am slow at
getting caught up on my e-mail. I just read Marshall's post to MDOsprey
and so would like to respond that my photos were found and I have put a
few of them out on a web page at:
http://www.ship.edu/~deheni/richgoosepics.html
Based on the discussion that Marshall and I had and on looking at some
references in the SU library, I feel that the two birds that were at
Middle Creek WMA in Lancaster County, PA on March 7th were Richardson's
Geese (hutchinsii). The chest is paler in the photos than I remember it,
though still not as pale as some of the larger Canadas. There is good
contrast between the black neck and the light chest. The photos are a
little dark but still show the relative size (wrt Snow Geese) and the
lighter breast. These two birds were not together, but both were
associating with Snow Geese.
Comments?
Don
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Don Henise Mailto:deheni@ark.ship.edu
Information & Computing Tech Center Voice:(717) 532-9121 ext 3170
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