Right at dusk tonight, over 100 geese "blew in" from the west to land on Lake Como in St. Paul. These included at least 9 Cackling Geese, 8 of which were of the "Richardson's" sub-species that I'm used to seeing in the area. One cackler appeared to be of the "minima" sub-species, which I have not seen in the Midwest. It was smaller and darker colored than the other Cackling Geese," no larger than the adjacent Mallards, had a noticable white collar at the base of the neck, and I could even hear it calling in its high squeaky voice as a Bald Eagle attempted to pick off a meal. Perhaps this bird was blown in from the west coast? Or has anyone else had experience seeing "minima" cacklers in Minnesota?
Other waterfowl on the lake included Gadwall, Shoveler and Ruddy Duck. I also flushed a Woodcock out of a brushy area along the lakeshore while I was scanning the goose flock. Scott Loss St Paul - Como Park ---- Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
