At Stewart Park this morning Jay McGowan refound the ROSS'S GOOSE, pointed it out to me, and sent out a text alert that it was sleeping on the ice among CANADA GEESE. Moments later, a volley of gunfire at Cornell's Merritt Family Boating Center roused all the geese to standing attention. The Ross's Goose began walking west on the ice. It's pink legs and feet were surprisingly large for such a dainty bird. While I changed my vantage, it snuck into the water, and I next saw it swimming west along the ice edge among MALLARDS. I knew they were supposed to be the same size, but still it was a bit mind-bending to see. I have to throw out my mental categorization that geese are bigger than ducks. Next the Ross's Goose changed direction, and I was surprised to see it sidle up next to a single "BLUE" SNOW GOOSE, which wasn't much larger. No, it wasn't a dark Ross's; it had a bigger bill and typical Blue Goose plumage. I spent longer than I intended at the park. During distractions and delays around 8am I heard TUNDRA SWANS. A flock of 17 of the giant all-white birds flew south toward me well above tree level, then veered west when they reached land as if checking out the emptied and frozen swan pond. Then they circled back overhead and headed north again. I felt a gift was bestowed upon me. Another bonus was a/the adult Peregrine perched in a tree within Stewart Park.
So, yes, we now have another Count Week species, Tundra Swan, in addition to the Canvasback, Greater Scaup, Black Scoter, and Glaucous Gull which were present on 29 December. --Dave Nutter -- 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/ --
