After wasting a morning off because of locally heavy fog (which probably 
wasn't so bad), I mad a spur of the moment decision to take the rest of the day 
and head out to Frederick County. I was primarily interested in Kershner's Pond, 
which has been mentioned frequently on MDOsprey. This turned out to be a 
wonderful birding spot. Among the hundreds of Canada Geese I found a compact group 
of 3 CACKLING GEESE and 2 SNOW GEESE, one adult blue and one white immature. 
Also present were MALLARD, AMERICAN BLACK DUCK, RING-NECKED DUCK, BUFFLEHEAD, 
COMMON MERGANSER and RUDDY DUCK, and many COOTS. There were two other geese 
that might have been Cacklers but the bill/head structure wasn't as convincing.

As a newbie goose-chaser I'm finding that, once you've seen a Cackling Goose, 
they're not that hard to spot. For me the head and bill proportions jump out 
first. The forehead seems almost as high as the tiny bill itself, and as Steve 
Sanford mentioned, the cheek patch seems to cover more of the face. The three 
birds today looked like classic hutchinsii based on the information that's 
out there.

About Kershner's Pond: I had been told that one could drive part way down the 
private drive on the south side of the pond, and that is the case. While I 
was there, the owner drove up from the house and stopped to chat. She said that 
they like to see birders there, and I thanked her profusely. After scoping the 
pond you must back out or turn around carefully so as not to damage the 
grass. This kind of welcome is so rare, please show utmost care and respect.

Joel Martin
Catonsville, MD