An apparent Cackling Goose was seen this afternoon flying north towards Prospect Lake before the V of 23 birds headed west past Greenwood. The Cackling stood out immediately when I noticed the flock because with the naked eye I could barely see it's body. Through 10x42's I could see the body of the goose was roughly half the size of the surrounding geese and when the flock was in good light the breast appeared darker than the Canada's. The neck was short and the combination of the size and shape gave the bird a long winged, fast flapping look. Due to the distance I was not able to ascertain the bill size of shape. It is for this reason alone I often bypass identifying Cackling Geese in flight, but this bird was clearly not an "in betweener." I hope this winter shapes up to be another great goose season!
Cheers,
Sean Sime Brooklyn, NY
