I got a better vantage (closer) point and was able to confirm the goose as a Ross'; based on bill structure (short, triangular); color (bubble gum!); no "grin on the bill; and it was smaller than the Canada's it was with (about 160). It stayed on the upper end of Jug Bay on the Anne Arundel side. It was out in open water with the Canadas when I first spotted it, but the flock drifted over to the marsh and stayed (rested) mostly near the dead marsh grases.
As luck would have it, this was not my only rare "yard bird" for the day (I should have bought a lottery ticket)! I also found a Blue (Snow) goose in the same flock, which I was able to see after I got a different angle. I also saw an adult Lesser Black-backed gull. Interestingly, I missed all 3 of these birds here last year, and to get all 3 on the same day (especially Jan 1st!) was amazing.
I also had a fantastic experience at the end of the afternoon. It was close to dusk, when the Rusties normally come to the swamp behind our house and perch for a few minutes before going to roost, there was an impressive flock. Probably the biggest I have ever seen. I counted carefully but quickly by tens (they often don't stay put long, so you have to count fast!). Both times I got 210+ (210-220)! They were mostly males, and had a few RW blackbirds with them (I estimated there were about 15-20). They were calling fairly loudly also.
This morning I went to see the Western Kingbird and got it, a state bird for me in MD. Took a while for it to come out, but eventually it did and began feeding right away. I was with Mike B and Betsy B, and we saw it eating berries (seeds?) from a sumac tree. I don't know how much seed/fruit they normally eat, but it was getting a belly full!
Also of note, I also saw a cool group of geese on Rt 311 this morning, while driving home from Hurlock (there were several big flocks of geese feeding in various areas along the Route, in the ag the fields (I think they must know the front is coming and are putting on the feed). One was a big group of Snow Geese that had a lot of the Blue morphs. The flock had 930 Snow geese, including 43 Blue ones! I scanned all the flocks carefully for something else, but saw nothing except Snows and Canadas. Which just added to teh excitement of seeing stuff at home this afternoon! Good thing I came home this morning to spend the day here!
Cheers and Happy New Year to all-
Jeff Shenot
Croom MD
############################
To unsubscribe from the MDOSPREY list:
write to: mailto:[log in to unmask]
or click the following link:
http://home.ease.lsoft.com/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=MDOSPREY&A=1 |