Paul (and Les) - - I wonder if the folks at Horsehead Farms Wildlife
Center in Grasonville might be able to provide info on European Bands;
they are run by the North American Wildfowl Trust,, which, if I remember
aright, has roots in a British organization of similar name.

Of course, they should be checked for another reason: they have emperor
and, I think,  barnacle geese in their captive flocks and are less than
ten miles away.

Leo Weigant

>>>  1/12/2005 3:53:35 PM >>>
Les,

I presume you were not able, with only a binocular view, to see
anything on 
the band that might be useful in identifying its origin.   I would urge
anybody 
who sees this bird to try and get some idea of the inscription on the
band.   
The only absolutely wild Barnacle Goose record   in North America was
of a 
bird banded in Spitzbergen.   I have no idea what collectors would put
on their 
birds for identification, or European ringers.   Maybe somebody tuned
in to 
MDOsprey could help on that score.   For now, this goose bears
watching.

Paul O'Brien
Rockville, Mont. Co., MD
 

In a message dated 1/12/05 3:07:47 PM,  writes:


>   Mark Scallion and I were treated to a view of a Barnacle Goose at
> 2:00 p.m. today on the grounds of the Pickering Creek Audubon Center
in
> Talbot County near Easton.  The bird was close to the entrance lane
in the
> field across the lane from the wetland ponds.  It was near the edge
of a
> flock of over 4000 Canada Geese, and stayed around long enough for me
to get
> a brief binocs view which showed a metal band on the left leg of the
bird.
> There was no band on the right leg.
>     I learned that there had been a previously unreported sighting
of
> this bird last Sunday.  At that time, the bird was in a field of a
Pickering
> Creek neighbor to the east - that field is bounded on two sides by
Sharp
> Road.  On Sunday, E.B. James of Pickering Creek first spotted the
bird and
> reported it to Mark.  Mark and his wife, Susanna, went back with E.B.
at
> that time and successfully relocated the bird.
>     This Barnacle was quite a bit smaller than the Canada Geese near
it,
> and the back was clearly gray rather than brown.  The black of the
neck was
> uniform in color and extended down the breast.  Dark eye line and
white on
> the sides of the face could be very clearly seen.
>     The large flock of Canada Geese has been staying on or near the
> Pickering Creek grounds or the grounds of the neighbor for the past
couple
> of weeks, since those places provide safety away from the hunters
that are
> pretty active elsewhere in the region.
> 
> Les Roslund
>  
> Talbot County
> Easton, MD
>