Barnacle Goose

Photo credit goes to Sue Palmer. I didn't get any
photos anywhere near this good. Thanks for
letting me use the picture

   As I mentioned at the end of yesterday's post, after work today, I was chasing a Barnacle Goose. This is a very rare goose for this area. They live in eastern Greenland, Scotland, Scandinavia, and Ireland. They do show up occasionally, but when they do it is a big deal. I had never seen one, so if it was still there today, it would be a lifer.

   While I was at work this morning the bird was seen by two of my birding friends Matt S.and Sue Palmer. I was happy it was still there, but it only added to my anxiety that I couldn't leave work. About noon, another friend, Amanda P said she was there but there weren't any geese in the field. This didn't bother me too much because  I knew they move around these huge sod fields.

   Luckily, I was in our kitchen today, so when I was done I could leave. I wasn't scheduled to stay until a certain time. I got done with my job at 2 pm and headed straight for North Kingstown. As I was driving down I read a report the Barnacle Goose was back and it was near an intersection. When I arrived at the intersection no one was there.

   I pulled out my scope and looked through the 200-300 geese a couple of times. Finally after around 10 minutes I spotted the Barnacle Goose. It is much smaller than the Canada Geese and has a really cool almost silver coloration. Others showed up and I showed at least three people the goose in my scope.

   I stayed roughly an hour in the brutal cold. I spent half of that time looking for another would be lifer, Cackling Goose. I didn't find one in the geese close enough to identify. I made it home both before the evening traffic and the much anticipated snow squalls.