White-fronted Goose(?)/Black Hill Park
daniel.eberly@gsa.gov
14 Dec 98 11:17:00 -0500
--UNS_gsauns2_3014124405
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Content-Disposition: inline
Hi gang,
The goose that I saw with a flock of Canada Geese at Black Hill Park
on December 6 had the following features: (1) Overall brown coloration
rather than buffy, no white face pattern and no dark belly barring;
(2) Orange bill without any large protuberances and did not appear to
be disproportionately large (about Canada Goose size vs. swan size);
(3) Orange legs and feet - the goose was swimming in an area with
standing and fallen dead trees and had to walk on a fallen tree trunk
to reach another open swimming area - its feet and legs were fully
exposed; (4) About the body size of the Canada Geese; (5) High pitched
flight call clearly heard when it flew (its flight path was low,
towards me, but slightly to the side and than low away) with a flock
of Canada Geese - not a barnyard or Canada Goose honk. The goose was
well seen during good light with 10x binoculars - about 100-150 feet
away while in the water. For those that know the area or would like to
look for it, I observed it from the stone/dirt jetty type structure
that juts into the water on the other side of the road from the boat
ramp. It was feeding in the grasses near the far bank and then was
swimming among the standing and fallen dead trees for about a total of
10 minutes. It was not in the open water between the jetty structure
and the road. This Sunday I revisited the same area and only saw
Hooded Mergansers and Mallards. Next to the boat ramp, about 100+
yards away from where I saw the goose, were 5 obviously domestic geese
(They approached me for food.), not the same bird I saw - buffy in
basic coloration, larger bodies and heads, some with black bills and
some with orange bills, orange legs, larger/heavier bills. Your
comments or questions are encouraged. Happy birding, Dan Eberly
--UNS_gsauns2_3014124405--