Saturday, March 14, 2009

Greylag Goose in E. Wallingford, CT

Today, Pamela and I joined a last-minute trip led by Strickland Wheelock for Massachusetts Audubon to Connecticut to see a what appears to be a 'wild' Greylag Goose. In the US, it is not unusual to see a "barnyard" goose that is descended from Greylag goose, but the barnyard variety seems to be plainer looking, and has a deep pot belly. The bird that is being seen now in CT seems to be a good candidate for a wild bird, and has spurred quite a bit of discussion. I'll be curious to see what the various committees decide on it's origin, and if they'll deem it a 'countable' bird. For some other comments and photos you can visit Nick Bonomo's Shorebirder blog or James P. Smith's Pioneer Birding blog.
And here are a few photos I took today as well as a video: