[TN-Bird] Greater White-fronted Goose, Lapland Longspur, etc. (Washington Co., TN)
- From: Don Miller <raincrow@xxxxxxx>
- To: TN-Bird <tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 07 Dec 2003 19:30:35 -0500
7 December 2003
Limestone, Washington Co., TN
Late this morning and early this afternoon, Alice Loftin and I visited
Keebler Road and nearby areas in the Limestone community of Washington
County. On Keebler Road, I observed (heard, actually) two Lapland
Longspurs, along with four Horned Larks and two American Pipits. The
pond on Keebler Road that has been productive of shorebirds lately was
empty of birds today.
After leaving Keebler Road, we worked our way toward Telford, stopping
briefly at the pond on Powell Road near West View School. This site
often yields nothing but Canada Geese and feral Mallards, but today
there were five Greater White-fronted Geese along with fourteen Canadas.
I observed the birds with binoculars for about twenty-five minutes at
close range in good light. Initially they were standing and walking on
the shore. Shortly thereafter, they slept for a few minutes. A few
minutes later, they entered the pond, swam for a short time, and then
returned to the shore.
Two of the birds displayed significant black barring on the belly and
appeared to be adults. The other three appeared to be immatures in a
post-juvenal plumage, having already attained white marking at the base
of the bill but not yet having developed black markings on the belly
(one bird did show a trace of barring, though). The bill color on all
five birds was deep pink tending toward orange. This, along with the
dark color on the upperparts, suggests the Greenland race. However,
since there is variation and overlap in field marks among the three
races, I do not wish to speculate too far on this.
Rick Knight of the Herndon Chapter was also able to observe the geese
later in the afternoon.
Don Miller,
Greeneville, TN
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