Jessie and I just had a single adult Ross's Goose with the flock of ca 325 Snow Geese that flew directly over the "on-time" (versus early or late) parking lot at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Notes from eBird below.
The Ross's was near the middle of the flock, and caused a break in the line of the flock line because it sped up and slowed down, apparently unable to keep exact pace with the Snow Geese. This bird was completely obvious, with a much shorter neck, very short bill and about 1/2 the size of any other bird in the flock. The flock flew directly overhead, less than 200 meters above, one of the lowest Ross's (and lowest flocks of migrating Snow Geese) we have seen in New York. Light snow and NW wind certainly contributed to the low flight line. The flock was migrating south on the heels of the first real cold front of the winter, with temps dropping into the single digits last night. Best, Chris Wood -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
