ML646615562

Observation details

**rare taxon in the coastal northeast but quite the incursion over the last few months, with some large flocks (always suggestive of rarer western types than the more expected Greenland type) in NJ and LI as well as a few single individuals. This bird was found yesterday by Paul Raucci and refound shortly after by Richard Fleming, and continued today. It was of interest to me as a patch bird for Floyd Bennett but I also wanted to study and photograph its bill and venter to try and hammer out a subspecies ID. When I arrived the bird was still foraging along runway 12 among Canada geese, and seeing that it was unfazed by passing cars I took the opportunity to creep up in my car and get some very close views (the best I’ve had of any GWFG). As they grazed some members of the flock wandered onto the runway, and were eventually flushed by an oncoming SUV. The white-fronted goose and two Canadas flew around the corner and put down in a puddle on the runway adjacent to the north 40 and began drinking water, at which point I left them alone. As I left the park I saw it fly in with several Canadas from the direction of green meadows farm or the driving range and land in the same field alongside runway 12 it had been on earlier. While the bill struck me as more pink than orange, which fits a western-type bird, there is some degree of speckling on the venter behind the legs - the degree of which I’m not sure is acceptable for the western forms. Its face was also a soft, cinder-gray. Having sought some second opinions, I am elevating this report to subspecies status. There are no prior ebird records of this taxon in NYC and a scant three for Suffolk County, though certainly it is under-detected, especially when single (distant) birds are involved. Photos and video