The next morning (Dec 19), we went to Wier Lake in easternmost Pennsylvania, where two Barnacle Geese had been seen every single day for the past 10 days or more. And you read the caption correctly right smack-dab in the middle of Pennsylvania is the small town named Jersey Shore. The photo above would be a rare sight in most of Michigan. It is always nice to leave the flatlands of Michigan and northwestern Ohio for some actual topography and more visible geology. The first day of the trip was a bit grueling, with a 550 mile drive with very few birds. So, as the geese showed up on my eBird alerts, and the weather looked reasonable (for mid-December), off we went last Thursday (December 18) for a true WILD GOOSE CHASE. Neither species was a life bird, but hey, the ABA list drives birders to do many strange and wonderful things. The past decade has seen an increase in the number of vagrant Pink-footed Geese wandering to the northeastern U.S., and likewise Barnacle Geese have been increasing.and are more widely considered valid wild vagrants since one banded in the Old World was found here. But a Bigger Year Than I Normally Do (BYTIND). Since my ABA list has been stuck at just over 670-680 for more than two decades, I've decided over the next 12-18 months, until I resume songbird banding again, to make an effort to reach 700 species. But where? A recent review of my ABA list reminded me that I only needed 14 species to reach that magical number of 700.
And, with very low gas prices, and a car that gets 50 mpg, we decided to get away for a few days. With the 2014 songbird banding season over, and the late fall hummingbird banding season cut short by a lack of birds, we had some spare time on our hands in December.