ML645329880

Observation details

Long-awaited apartment bird #150! Scarce winter visitor in our region, and an extra special treat in active migration. Moving southwest with a skein of 11 Canada Geese at 8:48, tracking towards Manhattan. Smaller, more compact stature was immediately apparent, so I snapped some photos expecting to have a Cackling Goose candidate on my hands. As I puzzled over the camera screen, I received a text from Adam Cunningham asking if I had seen the runty bird in a skein of a dozen geese that just passed his apartment in Kips Bay. While I was downloading my images for more in-depth review, I received an excited phone call from Adam declaring that the bird of interest looked good for a White-front. Sure enough, subpar doc shots confirm faintly visible orange feet and bill, dark mottling on the belly, a hint of the eponymous white feathering at the base of the bill, and uniformly dark brown plumage with no black neck sock or white chinstrap. I get by with a little help from my friends!