Photo and written documentation by Victor W. Fazio III
This is the original email to Ohio-birds listserv announcing the discovery of the bird.
I just got back from several days based in Tiffin - stopped by Wellington Reservoir around 3:20 to find Larry Richardson intently scoping out a small white goose. He had tentively ID'd it as Ross's and I concur with that ID. Short-necked, short- billed Snow Goose type goose with the eye of the bird at rest no higher than the back of adjacent Canada Geese (a flock of 160 which stuck to themselves about 120-150 yards out). Great views at 60x with his KOWA with a bright sun at out backs. Sufficient for detail of the pink bill with paler (straw color) tip and "creases" of the side of the neck also visible. No grin patch was evident and I believe we were in an excellent position to see it were it there. Some field guides short-change the Ross's Goose on the extent of the pale nail (absent in NGS yet prominent in their Snow Goose) however, photographic guides demonstrate how well this can be seen. Note the high forehead. Overall, the body was short and pudgy - a Snow Goose silhouette on the water is much closer to that of a Canada Goose. Little more than the crown of this bird was visible above the body of a Canada Goose as the latter passed in front of it. Plumage is that of an adult.
Watched for 1 hour but for the time I spent counting scaup/Redhead. Some distant (130 yards) slide shots were obtained with a Canon 500 mm plus Canon 1.4x teleconverter. Probably no great detail but certainly the proportion will be there.
One other observer present - didn't catch their name as they left shortly after I got there.
Also present were: 510+ Redhead, 18 Canvasback, 200+ Ring-necked Duck, 600+ Scaup spp., 11 Horned Grebe
- V.W.F.III
Subsequent documentation filed with the editor of The Cleveland Bird Calendar and the secretary of the Ohio Bird Records Committee respectively.
Documentation of a Ross's Goose | Wellington Reservoir, Lorain Co. OH | 10 March 2001
| One adult bird.
Circumstances behind the observation:
I stopped by Wellington Reservoir around 3:20 p.m. to find Larry Richardson* intently scoping out a small white goose. He had tentatively ID'd it as Ross's and after several minutes of study I concurred with that identification. There was one other birder present but I never got their name. That individual left shortly afterwards. Larry and I spent the next hour watching the bird slowly drift from our right to the left amongst a group of 160 Canada Geese. These birds did not consort with a few geese off the edge of the reservoir. At that time of day, the lighting for a study of the reservoir is excellent with the sun at one's back over the left shoulder. Study of the bird was variously with 8X42 B&L Elites and liberal use of the KOWA -like scope at 20 to 60X power. The bird was initially 130 yards away, drifting to within 110 yards and moving away to 130 yards again where it was photographed. Photography was using a Canon 500 mirror lens with a Canon 1.4x teleconverter. Photo enclosed.
Description:
The bird presented as a short-necked, short-billed Snow Goose type goose with the eye of the bird at rest no higher than the back of an adjacent Canada Goose. The body plumage was a bright clean white. This scope study allowed for detail of the pink bill with paler (straw color) tip and "creases" of the side of the neck to be seen. No grin patch was evident and I believe we were in an excellent position to see it were it there. Some field guides short-change the Ross's Goose on the extent of the pale nail (absent in NGS yet prominent in their Snow Goose) however, photographic guides demonstrate how well this can be seen. We noted the high forehead - one of the best features at distance once you are accustomed to seeing many Snow Geese. Overall, the body was short and pudgy - a Snow Goose silhouette on the water is much closer to that of a Canada Goose. Little more than the crown of this bird was visible above the body of a Canada Goose as the latter passed in front of it. The dark gray tips to the primaries were plain in the field and are evident in the photo provided. Plumage was that of an adult.
Nick Barber attempted to relocate this bird the next day but found it and the attendant Canada Geese absent further suggesting the Ross's Goose was travelling with the Canadas.
Previous experience. I have observed the similar Snow Goose annually for 23 years. Thousands on the east coast and in New Mexico. Up to 200 in Ohio in a single flock. I have made close photographic studies of the species at Castalia. I have observed a Ross's Goose four times previously - all documented Ohio birds.
*For those who do not know him, Larry Richardson is director of the Lake Erie Nature and Science Center at Huntington Metroparks on Cleveland's west side. He regularly birds the local area and has been leading bird tours (e.g. Vietnam several times) for a decade or more.
Final comments: Two years ago the Secretary of the OBRC reccommended the removal of this species from the OBRC review list. I objected suggesting it was premature. I no longer would hold any objection to its removal. Largely unrecognized by the OBRC and the literature, this species has now been taken 11 times in Ohio in the past decade (fide O.D.N.R., Div. of Wildlife), including a bird this past December (I have been promised a photo once the mount has been completed). I recognize two dozen legitimate records for Ohio in the past 10 years. The species has now been detected in flocks of up to 5 birds in eastern Ontario and has been dropped from the review lists of adjacent states.