Observers: Chris McCreedy
Email: cmccreedy@prbo.org
Remote Name: 209.221.197.254
Date: 03/08/03
Time: 11:10:59 AM
There was sun, and it was warm. Twelve feet from the boardwalk's end were 2 Ross's Geese with 2 Canada Geese, feeding on rotted chlorophyll. This was truly a rare thing, Ross's Geese have never let me come so close - and this pair never flushed, I was there over ten minutes. Gaines only reports 4 records for the Mono Basin, though he hints there may have been more (mistaken for SNGO). They were white race, with stubby bills that lacked the "grin patch". All white but for wings, none of the rusty-stained face Sibley depicts on the Snow Goose. The two Canada Geese ("common" race) were great for size comparison: they dwarved the ROGO. Humor there, in that one of the CAGO, while chasing a ROGO in circles (with neck and wings outstretched, mouth open and hissing), slipped on a patch of ice and fell on its bum. It is extremely funny to see a CAGO try to act cool after something like this happens. Also, the first spring Mono Basin Violet-green Swallow I have seen, 10 Northern Pintail and 2 Gadwall, a lone American Crow heading north to Thompson Ranch. These lone American Crows drive me crazy, but what can I say: it flew directly overhead, called, and I easily noted its small bill and small, squared tail. Ruby-crowned Kinglets are arriving, and there are many more Song Sparrows, Red-winged Blackbirds, European Starlings, and Killdeer than two weeks ago.