I have good video but no stills.  It is not easy for me to send electronically 
since file size is huge.  If needed I could make a brief clip and copy to a disc.  
There may be some photos available, since Merkle had an open house 
yesterday and there were quite a lot of people there.  I saw one person with 
a telephoto camera taking pictures with a tripod, but don't know who it was.  
The Sanctuary may also have some.

It was first reported to me by Greg Kearns, who saw it both on Saturday 
(12/16) and Sunday (12/17), at the same location.  One of the volunteer staff 
at the Sanctuary said it has been there for four days.  When Greg called me I 
asked if he was sure, and he said 100%, so after I finished the Jug Bay area 
where I was doing the Christmas Count, I went down to Merkle to see it. 

It is a beautiful adult, with distinct features (size, bill shape/pattern, etc.) 
that are typical for Ross' goose, and in the company of so many Canada's it is 
easy to find.  Hopefully it will stay around long enough for folks to see it and 
for those who like to photograph birds.

After it returned from the water, I watched it for about 45 minutes, and it 
spent the entire time eating (grass or shoots, whatever the grass is in the 
field below the V.C.), which was interesting because ALL the Canada geese 
were resting and loafing.  I hope this is not an indication it was getting ready 
to go somewhere!

Cheers-
Jeff Shenot
Crooom MD