From south-bay-birds-bounces+south-bay-birds-archive=[[email protected]] Sun Nov 7 16:00:45 2004 Received: from www.plaidworks.com (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by plaidworks.com (8.12.9/8.12.9) with ESMTP id iA7Nwdjm005485 for <[[email protected]]>; Sun, 7 Nov 2004 15:58:40 -0800 (PST) Received: from mtiwmhc12.worldnet.att.net (mtiwmhc12.worldnet.att.net [204.127.131.116]) by plaidworks.com (8.12.9/8.12.9) with ESMTP id iA7Nv9VC005436 for <[[email protected]]>; Sun, 7 Nov 2004 15:57:09 -0800 (PST) Message-Id: <[[email protected]]> Received: from d8lwzc51 (h-68-164-194-244.snvacaid.dynamic.covad.net[68.164.194.244]) by worldnet.att.net (mtiwmhc12) with SMTP id <2004110723570511200mhh22e> (Authid: [[email protected]]); Sun, 7 Nov 2004 23:57:05 +0000 From: "Donna Heim" <[[email protected]]> To: <[[email protected]]> Date: Sun, 7 Nov 2004 15:57:10 -0800 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Mailer: Microsoft Office Outlook, Build 11.0.6353 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2900.2180 Thread-Index: AcTFJX6JQ6i+kMKaRUKnpibEr1aegg== Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Content-Filtered-By: Mailman/MimeDel 2.1.5b1 Subject: [SBB] Continuing geese at L. Cunningham and yesterday's mixed longspur traits X-BeenThere: [[email protected]] X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5b1 Precedence: list List-Id: South Bay Birding List-Unsubscribe: , List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Sender: south-bay-birds-bounces+south-bay-birds-archive=[[email protected]] Errors-To: south-bay-birds-bounces+south-bay-birds-archive=[[email protected]] Today I found the goose flock foraging along a slope on Lake Cunningham just inside and to the left of the "Raging Waters" entrance on Tully Road near Capitol Expwy. I got good looks at the Ross's, Snow, and 2 minima geese. Details follow, along with a few observations regarding the "interesting" longspur many saw yesterday in the longspur flock at Hayward Regional Shoreline. Geese: The Ross's Goose had a conspicuously warty bill (extensive area of prominent warts), which, according to The Audubon Encyclopedia of North American Birds, indicates an older male. On p. 193, they state that bill warts are "small or absent in females and young birds." I saw only 2 cackling geese today. The birds were of similar size, standing near eachother and at one point near the 2 white geese. Their size was somewhere between the size of the Ross's and the Snow goose. One of the two cackling geese had a black strip under the chin separating the 2 cheek patches and a fine white ring visible only on the front of the neck. On the other cackling goose I could see no neck ring and no detectable black under the chin, other than the black bill which intruded somewhat into the white area where the cheek patches merged. Longspurs: The mystery longspur that was finally called as a Chestnut-collared (after it was flushed and tail pattern observed) had an interesting (and puzzling) mixture of traits suggesting both Chestnut-collared and McCown's longspur. The nape of the neck appeared largely gray, with no hint of chestnut. Sometimes when the bird turned at the right angle to the sun, for maximum lighting, a row of the well-lit black and tan wing coverts showed just the slightest trace of chestnut. (This was noticed by several birders using scopes and even binoculars.) Al DiMartini already reported on the size and color of the bill, and the overall light appearance of the "interesting" bird. _______________________________________________ Do not post admin requests to the list. They will be ignored. south-bay-birds mailing list ([[email protected]]) Help/Unsubscribe/Update your Subscription: http://www.plaidworks.com/mailman/options/south-bay-birds/south-bay-birds-archive%40plaidworks.com This email sent to [[email protected]]