Hello, Birders. At Loomiller Park in Longmont, Boulder County, this warm, sunny, Sunday afternoon, Jan. 25, Andrew Floyd and I saw a *Greater White-fronted Goose,* an apparent *minima Cackling Goose,* and a small flock of *Common Redpolls.* The rest of the story:
*Greater White-fronted Goose.* It was a straightforward adult. But if you want to see Andrew's startlingly misleading photo (followed by a photo of the bird looking entirely normal), check this out: http://tinyurl.com/GWFG-2015-01-25 *apparent minima Cackling Goose.* Classic case of "expectation bias." I was aware of previous reports from this site of *taverneri* Cackling Goose. So when I saw a different, dark-breasted Cackling Goose, my mind went straight to *taverneri*. But Cathy Sheeter makes a great case that this bird is probably *minima*. Photos, analysis, and comments here: http://tinyurl.com/CacG-2015-01-25 *small flock of Common Redpolls.* Psychologically, 180 degrees opposite the apparent *minima*. With the warm sunshine (temps were pushing 70 in Longmont this afternoon), the *chik-chik-chik* twittering of Common Redpolls was just about the *last* thing I was expecting. We heard, then saw, the birds fly straight over. They landed in a tree, very briefly, then flew off to the north, chippering away. We noticed several catkin-bearing trees in the neighborhood just north of the park, so maybe the birds will stick around. Ted Floyd Lafayette, Boulder County, Colorado -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/4860641a-4697-4c9c-99b7-82ebfab956a4%40googlegroups.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
