[TN-Bird] Dark-morph Ross's Goose still present

12-23-07
Lauderdale Waterfowl Refuge
Lauderdale Co
Jeff called today to let me know the adult dark-morph Ross's Goose was still
present at Lauderdale this morning. He may have gotten some distant shots of
the bird as well. He said there was a trememdous number of Snow and Greater
White-fronted Geese, and had gotten over 50 Ross's when the flock was
spooked and changed locations on the Refuge.

I knew this bird was rare, but I didn't realize how scarce they really were,
especially in the east. Many reported birds (though there aren't many of
them either) are thought to be hybrids between Ross's and Snow Geese. After
finding this bird, I can find practically no other records from the east of
what was thought to be 'good' dark-morph Ross's Geese. Jeff had a bird that
he thought looked good for one, but otherwise there were no records from TN,
MS, AR,AL, or KY (these being the states that I had immediate access to good
contacts) for this bird. A birder that is researching dark-morph Ross's
records from the Atlantic Flyway has only come up with one documented
record, from Chincoteague NWR in Virginia. 

I posted a message on the Calbirds list, since California is where most of
the birds are seen. All of the replies I got back were that the bird was a
good dark-morph Ross's.  Even out there, the biders that replied have only
seen a handful at the most, of this morph. One birder who goes to the
Sacramento NWR when Ross's Geese are concentrated there, has only seen 2
among the thousands of Ross's that congregate there. Guy McCaskie said he
had only seen about 6 of these birds in his years of birding California.
With that being said, three California birders experienced with this bird,
also picked up a SECOND bird in two of my photos that they all feel is an
immature dark-morph Ross's Goose! I didn't even notice this bird at the
time, in my excitement over the adult bird and trying to get some decent
shots of it. I had seen this 2nd bird in my photos, and noticed how
contrasty it was, but hand't put it together until it was mentioned. I don't
think it is possible to rule out a hybrid from my shots, but the 2nd bird is
certainly a young blue Ross's or a Snow x Ross's hybrid. This bird is
visible in the 1st and last photos that I posted to my Pbase site earlier,
or here are direct links:

http://www.pbase.com/mctodd/image/90426578

http://www.pbase.com/mctodd/image/90426583

Jeff had a small dark bird up there today that may have been the 2nd bird,
but I think the distance and lighting were a little too tough to tell for
sure. It's nice that these birds are evidently staying in the area though.

With the growing numbers of Ross's that are being seen now, especially in
the east, maybe a few more of these gorgeous birds will turn-up, as I know a
lot of people are actively looking for them among the multitude of Snows and
Ross's that we get in the southeast now. I became somewhat fascinated with
this bird after seeing one adult bird amongst the horde of white geese at
the south end of the Salton Sea a couple of years ago. 

Good Birding, and Happy Holidays to all!

Mike Todd
McKenzie, TN
birder1@xxxxxxxxxxxxx (home)
Michael.c.todd@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (work)
www.pbase.com/mctodd




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