IIT - Interesting If True. I am only skeptical for one reason. This is a report of a very rare bird (first state record) without ANY supporting details what-so-ever. I cannot even be sure the observer eliminated the more common "Blue" form of Snow Goose! Reports like this cannot be objectively evaluated by anyone since there is no information. Someone now has to drive up there, spend time, gas and energy to see if they can get any information (basic, simple, information that could have saved time and money had it been provided). I've seen off-the-wall species reported on Christmas Bird Counts that turned out to be something completely different, if only a little basic information was provided, the ID could have been substantiated.
Let's look a similar scenerio but from completely different angle: What if the news reported that an "undisclosed government agency has said that terrorists are going to strike tomorrow"? Do you think anyone would scramble to do anything with so little information? A few specifics are warranted. Where are they going to strike? What governement agency is reporting this? I would have more credence in Homeland Security than, say the US Department of Agriculture! A few specifics would be nice when someone just casually drops a first state MEGA-RARITY bombshell on the community. Joey Kellner Littleton, CO On Dec 13, 1:38 pm, COBirds <[email protected]> wrote: > Christian, > > I am not sure about one being dispatched, but I saw one flying in > October of 2008 in Weld County and reported that on CO Birds (the > white tail, dark body/under neck, and white head and upper neck make > them fairly unmistakable. I must admit that I first thought escapee, > but later thought I really should have sent that in to the records > committee because I do not know of a zoological collection that has > one (I am sure they are somewhere) and it is not unheard of for them > to be seen in odd places. With that said, I have seen them in Oregon > on both sides of the Cascades where they are a "normal" winter visitor > (I say normal - they are accidental, but seen somewhat routinely) and > accepted as a vagrant. It is odd to see them in the fall and not year > round if they were an escape from a collection. > > tom hall > Livermore > > On Dec 13, 11:56 am, Christian Nunes <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > Cobirders, > > > A report from the Colorado Birders list: > > > A single Emperor Goose was at N. Poudre No. 3 Reservoir today. Also present > > were Ross's Goose (3), Snow Goose (ca 15), and hundreds of the various > > white-cheeked geese. > > > Dix Smith > > Ft. Collins > > > I was just discussing this with Nick Komar yesterday. Many birders (myself > > included) have a knee-jerk reaction to reject such birds as escapees from > > captivity. But, the reality is that species like Emperor Goose show a clear > > pattern of vagrancy. It would not be impossible for an Emperor Goose to > > join a group of Lesser Canada Geese who were headed to CO. Others may be > > able to shed more light on this, but I recall a report of an Emperor Goose > > in Weld Co. last winter or the winter before that. The bird was dispatched > > by a hunter, and I believe some birders tried (in vain?) to obtain some > > physical evidence from that bird for analysis. > > > Fall/Winter 2010 is turning into a remarkable vagrant waterfowl year across > > the continent. There's a Taiga Bean Goose in CA, Baikal Teal in AZ, bona > > fide Graylag Geese in maritime Canada, and a slew of Barnacle and > > Pink-footed Geese in New England. Proving natural provenance is always > > difficult, but not impossible. > > > If some Ft. Collins birders could get out there and provide us with the > > pertinent information that one would think would be logical to collect like > > the bird's age and the status of its toes and bling-bling, that would be > > great. > > > Christian Nunes > > [email protected]http://www.flickr.com/photos/christian_nunes/- Hide > > quoted text - > > - Show quoted text - -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en.
