Hmmm, this makes me wonder: with the group of 5 that were in CT last week, would it be possible if the Wallingford Greylag Goose (if wild) traveled with the Gr. White-fronted's part of the way? Meredith Sampson Old Greenwich -- Mntncougar@aol.com wrote: Date: Sat, 07 Mar 2009 20:36:04 -0500 Paul Peterson reports 17Greater White-fronted Geese at the Bear Creek Sanctuary in Saugus today on the front Hill nearest Route 107. Date: Sun, 8 Mar 2009 17:18:13 -0400 With considerable surprise, I am excited to report that today at 16:10 I saw the 17 GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GEESE in Saugus, first reported yesterday by Paul Peterson. I viewed the birds from Rte. 107 just north of the county line. Congratulations to Paul for finding these birds and getting the word out (although with remarkable reports like this it is always helpful to provide some description on how the birds were identified, how well they were seen, etc.). The next interesting question to answer will be what subspecies these birds are. They were ~0.75 miles (?) away when I saw them, but I did think the bills were orangeish and the structure was consistent with the expected Greenland subspecies, A. a. flavirostris. Good photos of this flock will be hard to get if they stay on top of the old landfill, but good photos would help to solve the question of what subspecies is involved here. To put this record in context, I am aware of no larger flocks from anywhere in the East, although Levine (1998. Bull's Birds of New York) mentions 13 from Lake Ontario (presumably? western subspecies A. a. frontalis ), 11 on Long Island, and 8 at Aurelius, Cayuga Co. The Maryland high count is 8 birds in Worcester County (including 4 juv, all A. a. flavirostris). Prior high counts for New Jersey and Massachusetts appear to be five birds, with the latter being noted as "A. a. gambeli" by Veit and Petersen (1993. Birds of Massachusetts). Anyway, very cool. Maybe it could happen here. Don Morgan Coventry **************Need a job? Find employment help in your area. (http://yellowpages.aol.com/search?query=employment_agencies&ncid=emlcntusyelp00000005) _______________________________________________ This list is provided by the Connecticut Ornithological Association (COA) for the discussion of birds and birding in Connecticut. For subscription information visit http://lists.ctbirding.org/mailman/listinfo/ctbirds_lists.ctbirding.org ____________________________________________________________ Click now for the latest rates on a great home improvement loan! http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL2141/fc/BLSrjpTFJNOdJrar8eJNLdeXqKjLUhWIsqRPFDkFVKsmFUd8tgzwnBOYj4k/