[Ontbirds]Ross' Goose - Sault Ste. Marie, ON

[McIlwrick, Ken]

Hi Folks,

Yesterday a white morph adult Ross' Goose was observed resting and feeding with a few aggressive Canada Geese on a scant patch of newly exposed grass, on the south (river) side (along the building wall) of the OMNR District Office in Sault Ste. Marie, ON.  It remained on this spot for a few hours, but just after 3:45pm it flew off. My daughter and I had some nice views of it, as did a number of OMNR staff who could easily view it from a common room in their office. Some nice pictures were taken and sent to Ken Abraham for comments.

This goose was not observed this morning, after a quick scan of the river front, but a number of new birds for the season were present (yesterday was a big day for Canada Geese and a number of other migrants heading north). Birding has been extremely slow and quiet in the Sault for some time, but the last two days have given us hope!

Directions: Once in Sault Ste. Marie, locate the Queen Street - Church Street intersection. Turn south on Church Street and follow it in a southerly direction (towards the river) for 250m where it dead ends. The Canadian Bush Plane Heritage Museum is on the right (west) and the OMNR office is on the left (east). Park in the OMNR visitor parking.

Ken McIlwrick 
Forest Ecosystem Biologist/Biologiste des écosystèmes forestiers 
Natural Resources Canada/Ressources naturelles Canada
Canadian Forest Service/Service canadien des forêts 
Great Lakes Forestry Centre/Centre de foresterie des Grands Lacs
1219 Queen Street East, Sault Ste. Marie, ON., Canada, P6A 2E5
(705) 541-5643 
kmcilwri at NRCan.gc.ca