[Bristol-Birds] Greater White-fronted Geese, Greene Co., TN
- From: Dnldhlt@xxxxxxx
- To: bristol-birds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx, tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 24 Nov 2003 22:59:34 EST
D. Holt
sighting from Fri., Nov. 21, 2003
Bridgeburner's Blvd., Mosheim, TN
(Greene Co., TN)
Following a tip from a local hunter, I went to the field between Walmart
Distribution Center and Hwy 11E on Bridgeburners Blvd. at about 4:30 pm
Friday to see if the three white Snow Geese he saw were still there. The field
was
flooded and held a large number of Canada Geese, a smattering of Mallards,
and the surrounding shore held hundreds of Kildeer. A brief search revealed
two
"blue" Snow Geese, and to my great delight, four Greater White-fronted Geese.
I called Don Miller to come take a look, and while he was enroute I
called Wallace Coffey who posted the sighting on the local Bristol-birds
listserve
in case any other local birders might be in range for a look before dark.
From a distance of about 100 yds. with the sun at my back and a 73X
Meade ETX-125 telescope, I had great views of the white facial marks, flank
lines
and tail tips, the irregular black barring on the bellies, the orange legs and
bills. Their size was comparable to the Snow Geese. At first they were
standing on the shore, so I could see that the outlines of their bellies was
what
I think of as "lean", not nearly dragging the ground like a Greylag. After a
while they entered the water and fed with the rest of the flock.
I showed a semi-truck driver what I was looking at while he waited for the
time to make his delivery to Walmart. Another local duck hunter stopped and
we discussed the birds for a while. At about 5:30, I resumed watching through
the scope. I heard the kildeers all suddenly take flight, then saw all the
geese in view of my scope look up at once, then take flight. For a split
second
I wondered what had spooked them, then I heard a noise overhead and looked
straight up to see a very large, low-flying USAF cargo airplane with four
propellers pass over me from behind. It was going very fast. It trailed four
lines
of exhaust as it descended, passing over Hwy 11E before going into a steep
right bank turn and circling over me and the now airborne flock of waterfowl
again. The plane then continued on over the highway as before, descending, but
at a much lower rate of speed, and turning right to bring it in line with the
airport at Greeneville TN. The geese flew behind the Walmart Distribution
Center, but did not stop, exiting west just as Don Miller drove up beside me!
I
pointed at the departing flock, telling him to look quick.
I had to leave after that, but he stayed to look around the area until
total dark. He didn't see them then, or the following Saturday. Miller said
the water was gone from the field they were in by Saturday. I looked around
a little again this afternoon, Mon. Nov. 24. As far as I know, no one else
has seen the Greater White-fronted Geese in the area so far.
Don Holt
Johnson City, TN
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