For those following the saga of Barnacle Geese over the past few months,
there is possibly something of a missing link.
I got a report from Bruce Mactavish (in Newfoundland) that Stu Tingley and
others found a Barnacle Goose in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada on 3
November; it remained there with a flock of (wild) Canada Geese until 28
November.
If I'm not mistaken, then, there have been single Barnacle Geese in
southeastern Massachusetts, in Rhode Island, in Connecticut, in New Jersey,
and in Pennsylvania, as well as either three or four on Long Island, New
York. It's hard to figure how many if any of those might have been the same
individuals; hopefully, possible duplication will sort itself out when the
inclusive dates of each bird's visit are known.
While this proves nothing in particular, it does tend to tip the odds a bit
more in favor of the speculation that Barnacle Geese seen in New England and
the Middle Atlantic states this year came from Greenland and possibly through
Atlantic Canada en route to our area.
Though I know that there was an instance in the recent past (1990s) in which
Barnacle Geese were found in a family group and thought wild (later found to
be a group of six released birds that moved from Nova Scotia to summer in
Massachusetts), I can't think of any year in the past 100 in which Barnacle
Geese were noted in multiple regions in temporal/spatial progressions that
appeared to suggest dispersing vagrants.
Ned Brinkley
Cape Charles, VA
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