Cryptozoology

It seems so often the case that when an unusual bird shows up in Ontario it just happens to be hundreds of kilometres away. Ontario is, after all, a big jurisdiction. Every once in a while, however, something turns up close to home (or work). A Ross's Goose was reported to Ontbirds by Bob Noble last Saturday at Professor's Lake in Brampton, which is only a few kilometres from my office. I was not at the office on Monday so my first chance to check the lake was yesterday, but when I arrived at approximately 9:45 a.m. most of the geese had already departed for nearby farmer's fields or wherever. So today I arrived bright and early at 7:55 a.m. and lo-and-behold it was out on the edge of the ice, about 250 metres from shore.

Ross's Goose

Now this photograph is not what you would call "portrait quality". In fact it might rival photographs of Bigfoot or the Loch Ness Monster. But honest, it's a Ross's Goose.

Similar in appearance to the larger Snow Goose, Ross's Goose is most often seen in small numbers in Ontario as a passage migrant in Spring. It breeds in northern Canada and winters in the Southern United States and northern Mexico (notably in Bosque del Apache NWR in New Mexico).