Tundra Bean-Goose in Pennsylvania! ~ December 16, 2020

Jason Horn called during the ten o'clock hour to let me know that he was looking at a Bean-Goose by the Springton Lake Middle School, just south of the Springton Reservoir near Media! This bird was originally noticed on the Springton Reservoir at a distance by Rob Fergus, who figured it was most likely a Pink-footed Goose. It was later refound at the school by Jason Horn and correctly identified as a Tundra Bean-Goose! I grabbed my camera and bins and started the one-hour-plus drive down there. Along the way, I found out that the bird had left the school with a flock of Canada Geese and dropped into the nearby backyards along Colt Road. When I got there, the bird was in the backyard at 1800 Colt Road. I managed to get these three, distant photos of it while it was between a tree and the corner of the house.

The group again lifted off and went back to the school's soccer field where the following photos were taken at a closer distance. The bird appeared to be a little smaller than some of the surrounding Canada Geese and equal in size to others. The bill appeared to be too short for 'Taiga', but the waters appear to be muddy on this.

This bird represents the first record for Pennsylvania and one of only a handful of records from the 'Lower 48'. The only other record from the eastern United States was that of a bird killed by a hunter in Arkansas on 1/25/2018. Judging by the location of the two small white spots on the head, this appears to be the same bird that was seen in Ontario, Canada about three weeks ago. I was lucky that the bird remained until I got there and even luckier that I got back home before the big snowstorm started.

There was also a very dark goose near the Bean-Goose. I have included four photos of this goose, which appears to be a very dark "Lesser" Canada Goose (parvipes)? The bird was noticeably smaller than the surrounding Canada Geese and very close to the size of the Bean-Goose. The first two photos show it next to the Bean-Goose, and the last two photos show the size difference between it and the normal, expected 'Atlantic' subspecies. The bird had an overall charcoal gray coloration. There was only a little difference in coloration between the upperparts and underparts of the bird. The breast was only a little lighter gray than the rest of the belly. The bill length, rounded head shape, and medium size seemed to fit Canada Goose and rule out Cackling Goose. The top edge of the white 'chin strap' came almost to a point rather than a rounded top like that of the surrounding Canadas. I'd be interested in hearing any comments on the identification of this goose.

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