This morning between 0720 & 0745 I was able to do a quick check of the many geese on the north end of Merritt's Pond, Riverhead. The south end is still iced over, but the north section (the deeper of the two) is now ~ 90% open. The first surprise was a colorful one, a gorgeous drake Common Merganser, which is my first of the winter, as well as the first time I've seen this specie at this location.
Toward the end of my scan, I saw this odd head, which could only mean one of two things, a hybrid... or a Bar-headed Goose ! As luck (and many thousands of miles) would have it, it was a "funny" goose. I never did see the complete bird, due to it's being mostly tucked all the while I was there. What I did see, in addition to the black & white head, was a large Canada body, with a yellow leg poking out. Unfortunately, ~ 2/3 of the flock were also tucked, plus packed together pretty good, thereby making chances for spotting a rarity slim, to slimmer ! Cheers, Bob -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
