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Saturday, October 17, 2020

NIAGARA FALLS FROM WINDOW IN OUR HOTEL ROOM, NIAGARA FALLS,ONTARIO, 10/16/2020

PAIR OF JUVENILE ROSS'S GEESE (WHITE FORM) GRAZING ON LAWN, BAYFRONT PARK,HAMILTON,ONTARIO, 10/15/2020

This pair of juvenile Ross's Geese (White Form) has been reported on ebird as being at Bayfront Park since Oct. 12. They have been reported as being at various places in this large park: the marina, the beach, grazing on the lawn, etc. When we arrived at the park it was raining fairly hard. We spotted a fellow birder and she told us that she had been looking for the geese all over the park for some time and hadn't yet found them. We figured we would leave and come back the next day when the weather was suppose to be be better. On the way out, eagle-eyed Sharon spotted two white birds among some Canada Geese. Low-and-behold they were the pair of Ross's Geese. Sharon managed to find our fellow birder and let her know.

We can ID this pair of geese as juvenile Ross's Geese as follows:

Small, overall white goose with gray wash on crown, nape and back. The very similar juvenile Snow Goose has much grayer upperparts.
Short, triangular grayish-pink bill with minor "grin patch" between mandibles. The "grin patch" on a juvenile Snow Goose is generally much more pronounced.
The feathering at the base of the bill is vertical and relatively straight (this can really be seen in the first photo). In a juvenile Snow Goose the feathering is much more curved.
Round head ( this can be seen in first photo). The juvenile Snow Goose has a head that is elongated and less round.
Dusky line through eye.
Greyish-pink legs.
Black wingtips.
Short neck.

Ross's Goose is a new species to our Photographic Life List, which now stands at 987A.