On Sat, 28 Jan 1995, Thomas Cotner wrote:

> Dear BIRDFOLK,
> Yesterday I saw the Ross' goose in the large field about 1/4 mile north
> of the intersection of 68thS and 212th. It was in the Boeing Space
> Center fields near the small,deep basin pond. It was in with a flock of
> 100 Canada and one *other* white goose, which I initially thought was a
> 2nd Ross' goose but I finally concluded was a snow goose. ...
>
The Ross' Goose was also present this morning (1/28) in precisely the
same location but there was definitely only one white goose present. It
would have been nice to have a Snow Goose to compare it to. This bird
has brownish gray patches at the base of the bill. The patches are
roughly triangular and rough surfaced which I presume is the warty
protuberances mentioned in many field guides. The roughness requires a
VERY close look to see. The color on the other hand is visible from some
distance. Is this diagnostic for a Ross' Goose or might a Snow Goose
have a similar patch? Many books also mention the grinning patch of
black on the bill as being diagnostic for Snow Goose and at least one
book (Peterson I think) says that Ross' lack the black lips. This bird
certainly had black lips although they were very thin rather than a
slightly oval grinning patch. I believe that the one other Ross' Goose
I've seen in California also had black lips. So are these misidentified
or am I correct that Ross' Goose may have thin black lips? The photos in
the Audobon Master Guide also show black lips. Any thoughts from the
goose experts out there?

Jim Elder
jime at eskimo.com
Seattle, WA