Les,
I presume you were not able, with only a binocular view, to see anything on
the band that might be useful in identifying its origin. I would urge anybody
who sees this bird to try and get some idea of the inscription on the band.
The only absolutely wild Barnacle Goose record in North America was of a
bird banded in Spitzbergen. I have no idea what collectors would put on their
birds for identification, or European ringers. Maybe somebody tuned in to
MDOsprey could help on that score. For now, this goose bears watching.
Paul O'Brien
Rockville, Mont. Co., MD
In a message dated 1/12/05 3:07:47 PM, writes:
> Mark Scallion and I were treated to a view of a Barnacle Goose at
> 2:00 p.m. today on the grounds of the Pickering Creek Audubon Center in
> Talbot County near Easton. The bird was close to the entrance lane in the
> field across the lane from the wetland ponds. It was near the edge of a
> flock of over 4000 Canada Geese, and stayed around long enough for me to get
> a brief binocs view which showed a metal band on the left leg of the bird.
> There was no band on the right leg.
> I learned that there had been a previously unreported sighting of
> this bird last Sunday. At that time, the bird was in a field of a Pickering
> Creek neighbor to the east - that field is bounded on two sides by Sharp
> Road. On Sunday, E.B. James of Pickering Creek first spotted the bird and
> reported it to Mark. Mark and his wife, Susanna, went back with E.B. at
> that time and successfully relocated the bird.
> This Barnacle was quite a bit smaller than the Canada Geese near it,
> and the back was clearly gray rather than brown. The black of the neck was
> uniform in color and extended down the breast. Dark eye line and white on
> the sides of the face could be very clearly seen.
> The large flock of Canada Geese has been staying on or near the
> Pickering Creek grounds or the grounds of the neighbor for the past couple
> of weeks, since those places provide safety away from the hunters that are
> pretty active elsewhere in the region.
>
> Les Roslund
>
> Talbot County
> Easton, MD
> |