Pink-footed Goose - November 19, 2012

I was out and about early this morning, so I decided to take a jaunt to Goulds to check out Forest Pond. There were a number of diving ducks that, from a distance, seemed to be Ring-necked Duck and Scaup, as well as the Pied-billed Grebe.

On the way out of town I was driving up the main road when I thought I saw a goose in a field with some crows and starlings.  I wondered if it was a domestic goose since I have seen so many of them lately. Anyway, I thought I should check it out and turned around to go back.

The goose was some distance from the road and the morning sun was playing havoc with views.  I watched from the car until I saw it fly a short distance. Nope! This was not a domestic goose.  I got out and at least put myself on the right side of the road to get a better look.

It milled around for a while, and I was able to see the bright pink feet. I placed a couple of phone calls from the site, but they both went to Voice Mail. Could this be a Pink-footed Goose? Yep.

It was particularly alert and sprang to attention with each passing car. This bird was big! It seemed much bigger than the one I saw a few years back. Then, again, that was a long time ago.  I left the crow in this picture to offer an illustration of its size.

When I got home, I asked for help to confirm the sighting and posted the report right away. Dave Brown and Jared Clarke confirmed the identity.  This bird represents the second reported Fall sighting in Newfoundland. Check out the link to Birdtherock on the right side of this page under "Blog List."

Suddenly, all of the crows and starlings lifted off. The goose followed. He circled around the field at least three times before falling in behind a group of three scaup flying by and soon, disappeared in the distance. What a nice surprise this morning!  It was the last thing I expected to see.

Our Pink-footed Goose was reported through the American Birding Association yesterday: http://blog.aba.org/abarare/