I left the house to go to the Hawk Watch this morning but it was 
already sprinkling,
and the clouds to the west and south looked pretty dark, so I gave up 
that idea and
turned around to come home. About a half-mile from my house on Middle Road
was a flock of several hundred Canada Geese with a couple of Snow Geese. They
were easily seen from the road so I stopped and scanned the flock. 
There were three
white Snows but what really caught my eye was a smaller goose. It had 
a dark brown
head and neck, a brown breast, and silver-gray wings with a little 
white in them. The legs
were not bright orange, but with just binoculars I couldn't see the 
bill well, so I zipped
home, made a couple of phone calls, grabbed my Sibley and spotting 
scope and went back.
I couldn't have been gone more than 10 minutes, but when I got back 
and set up the scope
I could no longer find the little brown-headed goose. The field has a 
slope and I suspect it was
on the downhill side. I did spot what I think is a Cackling 
Goose--small, dark breasted and small-billed,
so that was nice, but I really wanted to find this goose that Chris 
Starling suggested was a possible
juvenile Ross's Goose, a life bird for me.

I had just moved the scope to get a better view when the entire flock 
flushed and dispersed to the west,
thanks to a large Red-tailed Hawk. I was able to see most of them 
land in two ponds but a scan
of those flocks showed nothing unusual, and the Snow Geese were 
nowhere to be seen.

ARGH! Normally I love seeing a nice Red-tailed Hawk but what timing!

--Pat

Pat Valdata, Elkton, MD | 
"The natural function of the wing is to soar upwards
and carry that which is heavy up to the place where dwells the race of gods.
More than any other thing that pertains to the body
it partakes of the nature of the divine." --Plato