Birders,

The picture of Ross's Goose occurrences in B.C. is very similar to
that painted for Washington by Russell Rogers on TWEETERS. Up to 1990,
there were only 23 occurrences of Ross's Goose in B.C. (Campbell et
al., The Birds of British Columbia, Vol. 1, 1990). Only 4 of these
occurrences involved more than a single bird, with a maximum of 7
birds in one group. However, records of Ross's Geese have increased in
frequency (and in numbers of birds) during the 1990s.

Example: on April 15, 1997, I discovered a flock of 11 Ross's
Geese in fields near Quilchena on Nicola Lake, south of Kamloops. They
were accompanied by 11 Greater White-fronted Geese and hundreds of
Canada Geese. I presumed that the Ross's and White-fronts were birds
from the California wintering population which had strayed too far
west from their normal migration route. Fortunately, the Ross's Geese
stayed at this locality for at least 8 days, long enough to be seen by
birders from several places in B.C.

It is noteworthy that a flock of 11 Ross's Geese was seen on April
12, 1997 at Willow Bar in Garfield County, SE Washington. Given the
date, it is quite possible that these were the same 11 birds that
appeared near Quilchena 3 days later.

I believe that this flock of 11 is the largest group of Ross's
Geese seen to date in B.C. (Jack Bowling or Michael Shepard, please
correct me if I'm wrong.) However, even if it is, I doubt that the
record will stand for long.

Sincerely,

Wayne C. Weber
114-525 Dalgleish Drive
Kamloops, B.C. V2C 6E4
Phone: (250) 377-8865
wayne_weber at bc.sympatico.ca