MDOsprey and BRCF:

There is a building body of evidence to disabuse the notion that all 
Barnacle Geese in the Northeast or Mid-Atlantic are escapes. See the 
tantalizing cross post, below, from birdwg01.

Keep looking for that bird in Kent County, MD ...

Phil


>Date:         Mon, 23 Jan 2006 23:24:02 -0500
>From: Jean Iron <>
>Subject: [BIRDWG01] Barnacle Goose record in Ontario
>To: 
>
>We have just learned from Pierre Bannon of Montreal that a wild Barnacle 
>Goose was shot by a hunter last fall 2005 near Hawkesbury (east of Ottawa 
>along the Ottawa River) in eastern Ontario about 3-4 km from the Quebec 
>border. This Barnacle Goose was banded in Scotland. The ring number was 
>1291440-SW7 with a Darvic white ring with letters XAL. Steve Percival of 
>Durham in the United Kingdom reported the banding details to Jean-Francois 
>Giroux of the University of Quebec in Montreal. Percival wrote, "Excellent 
>to hear from you and particularly regarding this exciting recovery. It was 
>a bird that we ringed on Islay on 9 November 2004 as a juvenile (i.e. 1st 
>winter) male, on the RSPB reserve at Loch Gruinart on Islay, Scotland 
>(55.83 degrees N, 6.34 degrees W). Of the many thousand that have now been 
>ringed in this population I think that this is the first to have been 
>recovered in Canada (and I think anywhere in N America). After ringing on 
>Islay we don't have any other records of this bird though. The ring number 
>matches with the darvic code so there's no argument about the record."
>
>Most Barnacle Geese seen in North America are probably escapees. This 
>record of a banded individual will be the first record for Ontario pending 
>review by the Ontario Bird Records Committee. We thank Pierre Bannon of 
>Montreal and Michel Gosselin of the Canadian Museum of Nature for keeping 
>us informed about this important record of a wild Barnacle Goose in Ontario.
>
>Ron Pittaway and Jean Iron
>Toronto ON
>
>
>Join or Leave BIRDWG01: http://listserv.arizona.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=birdwg01
>
>Archives: http://listserv.arizona.edu/archives/birdwg01.html

===================================================
Phil Davis, Secretary
MD/DC Records Committee
2549 Vale Court
Davidsonville, Maryland  21035     USA
301-261-0184
mailto:[log in to unmask]

MD/DCRC Web site:  http://www.MDBirds.org/mddcrc/rcindex.html
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