Good Birds Continue at the Nazareth Quarry ~ February 25, 2026

It was another interesting day at the Nazareth Quarry. Among the roughly 8000 Snow Geese was a uniquely-marked goose. It had a rich black front and stripe up the back of the head, white wing coverts, and a fairly stubby bill resembling that of a dark morph Ross's Goose, but the bill and its size seemed a bit too big to be a pure Ross's. It was too far away to see the amount of 'grin patch'. Because of that, I determined it to be a dark morph Snow x Ross's Goose hybrid. I got these distant photos of it.

A dark morph Snow x Ross's Goose hybrid.

Also near the hybrid was a Snow Goose with a yellow neck band, but it was too far away to read it.

A Snow Goose with a yellow neck band (at center).

Three White-winged Scoters were found next to the Snow Geese along with a good count of 29 Common Mergansers. The one scoter appears to be a first-year male, judging by the light tip to the bill.

Three White-winged Scoters---(left to right) a first-year male, a female, and an adult male.

A portion of the 29 Common Mergansers.

Other birds seen there included 4 Northern Shovelers, 5 American Black Ducks, 8 Redheads, 5 Ring-necked Ducks, 11 Greater Scaup, the continuing female Long-tailed Duck and Red-breasted Merganser, 16 Buffleheads, around 50 Ruddy Ducks, 13 American Coots, and a Pied-billed Grebe among about 800 Canada Geese, plus 14 Ring-billed Gulls and a Common Raven.

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