My son and I birded several spots in Prince George's County this morning and
the highlight was spotting a Ross's Goose at Schoolhouse Pond feeding with a
group of 800 or 900 Canada Geese. I suspect this is the same bird that has
been seen consistently at Merkle over the last few weeks. There seems to be
some turnover between the birds in the Jug Bay area and Schoolhouse Pond,
and occasionally birds seen at one location turn up at the other (such as the
White Pelican in 2000 and the Avocet in 2004). We got good looks and a few
photos of the bird as it fed towards the rear of the pond. It was still present
when we left a little before noon.
I've now seen all of the local and semi-rare geese at Schoolhouse Pond. In
addition to the Canada Geese, Cackling Geese sometimes turn up (most
recently in early 2005), a lone Snow Goose appears once every year or two,
and an adult Greater White Fronted Goose was seen in late December 2005.
We were unable to find the White Pelican from either Mount Calvert or Jackson
Landing during brief stops at both locations.
Fred Shaffer
Patuxent MOS
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