Barnacle Goose in Northampton County ~ December 3, 2017

Last week, I got an E-mail from Tom Love, an Oregon birder stating that he was on a business trip to Washington, D.C. and wanted to know if I could provide him with any information on the Barnacle Goose that had been sporadically seen in the area since it would be a 'lifer' for him. I wrote him and let him know that it hadn't been reported in a while but would be glad to take him around to the local spots to look for it if he was willing to give it a try. He decided to go ahead and drive up here on Sunday morning and we'd meet at the Wawa on Schoenersville Road. An hour before his arrival, I checked out many of the favorable spots and came up empty.

Upon meeting up at the Wawa, we headed out to the nearby ponds along Valley Center Parkway and High Point Boulevard, only finding small groups of Canada Geese. From there, we stopped at Seiple's farm pond, the Silver Crest Road retention pond, and the Gremar Road ponds. There was one Snow Goose at Seiple's and four Buffleheads at the larger Gremar pond but no sign of the Barnacle. A stop at the Nazareth Quarry yielded several thousand Canadas at the far end of the quarry. We stopped a few times to check out groups of geese in the corn-stubbled fields between Nazareth and Bath, but they were all Canadas, too. The Northampton Quarry was devoid of birds.

Time was running out since he had to be back in Washington for a 7 PM flight, so we headed for his car but decided to make one last check of the Valley Center Parkway ponds. At around 12:30, we pulled up and made a sweep of the southern pond and he said, "There it is!" Amazingly, ten minutes before he had to leave, there was the Barnacle Goose on the back edge of the pond.

I quickly got out the scope so he could get some great looks and then took him back to his rental car where he headed back south with a big smile.

I called Arlene Koch, who was nice enough to post it to PABIRDS, and then headed back over there where I managed to get some better photos.

Mike and Corinne Schall showed up soon after and told me that there was a Ross's Goose in the northern pond just across the road. I walked over there and took some photos of it, too.

More photos from the day can be found in my 2017 Local Notables Album.

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