Friday the 13th luck was against us today. Jane Kostenko and I left the house at 0400 with the temp at 50°F and by the time we arrived at the boat ramp on the Chester River, it was 34°F and the wind was howling. We could hear geese on the water but it was too dim to see. Around 0700, we pulled on our arctic wear and grabbed scopes and started scanning the river. There were two flocks on the water. One was south and the other north near the cove where the goose had been reported previously. 


Around 0800, we were joined by a couple 
from Kentucky who had driven up to see the Barnacle Goose before 
continuing on to CT for the Pink-footed Goose. We scanned the flock and got excited when I found a Canada Goose with a white face but when we noticed that the dark neck ended above the chest, our hearts sank. We drove north on Rt. 291 looking for geese feeding in the fields and found none. There were small flocks to the south and we eventually found a large flock visible from the road just up from the boat ramp on the left. Finally, we punted around 1145.

Besides the white-faced Canada Goose, I found one with no white chinstrap. It was really odd looking having a solid black head and neck.

Anyway, good luck to Elaine Hendricks who called us from the boat ramp just before we got onto 301 southbound and to anyone looking Saturday and Sunday for the bird. It's around somewhere!

 Tyler Bell


California, Maryland

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