>Hello,
>
>This is my first posting to TWEETERS. At about 10:15 this morning, my
>friend and I went to Spencer Island. Because of the message from Barry
>Levine, we took an extra careful look at the flock of Canada Geese that
>landed on a small pond near us. We saw the goose Barry described. It was
>close to the same size as the Canada Geese and after checking in the "Stokes
>Field Guide to Birds", we decided that it most resembled the following
>description from the Guide under Snow Goose:
>
>Dark morph, called "Blue Goose," has a pink bill, white head and upper neck,
>and dark body and wings.
>
>We were unable to confirm the color of the beak, but the coloration matches.
>
>Kaylynn VanCamp
>Everett WA
>KLYNnCATS at aol.com

I guess I'll step in at this point and alert everyone to the rather large
number of domestic geese and hybrids between them and Canada Geese that are
hanging around in Canada Goose flocks now. Some of the domestic geese have
dark bodies and white heads and necks. When Barry described the bird, it
sounded too small to be one of these. Kaylynn's description makes the bird
sound larger, and indeed it could be a domestic or hybrid. If it were
really a dark-morph Snow Goose, there should be a prominent black line down
the bill. Domestic geese typically have orange bills, but I think they can
look pinkish also. "Blue" Geese are quite gray, while domestic geese tend
more toward brown.

Dennis Paulson, Director phone 206-756-3798
Slater Museum of Natural History fax 206-756-3352
University of Puget Sound e-mail dpaulson at ups.edu
Tacoma, WA 98416