[mou] Snow Geese, Wash Cnty

[drewbec@aol.com]

On Friday, Feb 17th, I saw 3 "Snow Geese" fly into the 140th St Marsh=20
in Dakota County. One was a blue phase bird, and appeared to be a=20
"pure" Snow Goose. The 2 "white" birds were not Snow Geese. Seen in=20
flight, they showed no black flight feathers in the wings; and on the=20
water it was obvious that their bills were not Snow Goose bills--- no=20
grin patch. Their white plumage showed the ghosting of darker=20
patterning on the back and flanks. I suspect that they are hybrids of a=20
blue phase Snow Goose and a white domestic bird. I observed the same=20
birds again on the 19th with Doug Kieser and Jim Otto, who=20
independently came to the same conclusion.

Due to the proximity to the Douglas Point location, and the same mix of=20
birds, there is the potential this is the same trio. Observers are=20
advised to consider this possibility. I have also been advised by Doug=20
Kieser, that a trio of similar birds were wintering at Silver Lake in=20
Rochester. Again, perhaps this same group of geese.

Drew Smith
Eagan, Dakota County

-----Original Message-----
From: Dan Deutsch <deut0039@umn.edu>
To: Mou <mou-net@cbs.umn.edu>
Sent: Tue, 21 Feb 2006 14:14:32 -0600
Subject: [mou] Snow Geese, Wash Cnty

    So I was just down at Point Douglas Park to see if there was=20
anything interesting down there. There were a few Goldeneye and a bunch=20
of Canada Geese. Other then that there were three Snow Geese mixed with=20
them and one them happen to be a dark adult, one of the most=20
interesting things I have seen to date this year. If you haven't seen=20
one be sure to check it out. I was down there not more then 20 minutes=20
ago and they were still there.=A0
=A0
 Dan Deutsch=A0
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