Posting for Beverly Carlisle. I have seen the photos. Mark Cranford
Feel free to post the Barnacle Goose sighting on ONTBIRDS as I am unsure
of exactly how to do that. It was sighted in the north end of Port
Elgin on the west side of Highway 21, at the pond behind the Independent
Grocery store, yesterday (Monday November 21), between two and four in
the afternoon. It was among several hundred Canada Geese and was viewed
swimming, then flew to the farm field directly beside the pond where it
foraged for another thirty minutes or so before flying off south with
the other geese.
After initially sighting the bird I raced home and called a number of
other birders and was able to get another birder,Fred Jazvac, we buzzed
back over to the pond and he took some photos which I will forward to
you. We had good, clear and long views and are certain of what we saw.
We tried calling all the birders we knew and no one was home!! I was
glad that at least one other birder got to see this bird so we could
share the excitement.
I will fill out the the rare bird report so that a record of the bird
exists.
The other amazing thing was that when I returned to the pond and located
the bird for a second time it was swimming right beside a Cackling
Goose. All this because I got my days mixed up and showed up at the
arena to skate and found that I was there on the wrong day so I went
across the road to do a little grocery shopping instead and did my usual
perusal of the pond on my way home. Lucky me!
Thanks for taking the time to send me a detailed response.
Beverly
On Mon, Nov 22, 2010 at 9:44 PM, Mark Cranford <[email protected]
<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
Hi Beverly
Yes as the Secretary (non-voting) of the Ontario Bird Records
Committee I would like to receive a report of your sighting of a
Barnacle Goose.
As Ontbirds Coordinator I would also like to see an Ontbirds posting
so that other interested birders may be able to relocate it.
I took a quick look at the checklists on the OFO website. Barnacle
Goose is on the Ontario Checklist and it is on the Review List for
Southern Ontario. Is it possible that you are looking at the Review
List for Northern Ontario? Barnacle Goose has never been documented
in Northern Ontario so it is not on that list. The same logic
applies to, for example, Green Violetear - it is on the Review List
for Northern Ontario but not on the Southern Ontario list because
there are no records for southern Ontario.
Your assumption that the OBRC will treat a report of a Barnacle
Goose as an escapee is not unreasonable. Since the first report of
Barnacle Goose was assessed by the OBRC to be an escapee in 1982
there have only been 5 reports submitted to OBRC for review. With
the exception of a bird banded in Scotland that was shot by a hunter
on the Ottawa River, all reports have been considered escapees. The
following comments are from different reviewers about last year's
Barnacle Goose but they give a good idea of the current attitude of
the committee.
"Photos confirm the ID. The occurrence in Ontario of the 2005 bird
banded in Scotland does not adequately reduce the strong likelihood
that this individual is an escape. The origin of unbanded Barnacle
Geese in southern Ontario has been questioned by OBRC in the past,
and should continue to be unless there is further evidence to
support wild status."
"I accept the ID, but I question the bird’s origin. This is a
commonly-kept species in captivity in southern Ontario, and
free-flying escapees have routinely been seen in the past on several
occasions. Only a banded bird that can be traced back to the Old
World would constitute a valid record."
The OBRC appears to take the conservative position that a bird is an
escapee unless evidence is presented otherwise.
In recent years bird record committees along the eastern seaboard in
the US have started to accept reports of naturally occurring birds.
Inland committees have been more cautious. As far as I am aware all
accepted records of inland Barnacle Geese have questioned origin.
That could change but the onus appears to be on the reporter to
convince the committee that the bird is naturally occurring.
Bottom line. If you submit a report it will exist. The OBRC may
accept a bird's identity and still question its origin. The record
gets published with credits to the observers and contributors and is
available to future reevaluation. If it does not get reported it
will never exist.
Mark Cranford
On 11/22/2010 6:18 PM, Beverly Carlisle wrote:
Today I and a fellow birder saw a Barnacle Goose in with a large
flock of Canada Geese at the Independent Pond in Port Elgin.
Can I surmize that because you do not have it listed on the rare
bird report list that OFO presumes it to be an escapee? Are you
interested in my siting?
Thanks,
Beverly Carlisle
--
Mark Cranford
ONTBIRDS Coordinator
Mississauga, Ont.
[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>
905 279 9576
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