Yesterday evening Derek Rogers whom I've known since College was driving home and saw a large flock of geese on the North side of the LIE and figured he would give it a scan since there was some light left. Before long he had plucked out a Pink-footed Goose, a proverbial needle in a haystack (or stack of goose down anyway). The Pink-footed Goose is the holy grail of Geese in the Northeast and there it was right in Holtsville. This morning a report of the bird being at Medford Athletic Complex was great news for me since my office is right down the road from there but by the time my lunch break came around the birds were gone - replaced by Soccer Players enjoying the warm February weather. So I rolled the dice that the bird would head to the Soccer fields in Holtsville again around dusk and sure enough - within 5 minutes of my arrival I watched the bird fly in from the North through my binoculars and land at the far north end of the field.
So while I'm happy to get this difficult bird in a place so close to home I'm woefully disappointed in the image quality (no thanks to the light and distance). Maybe I'll get lucky in the next few days.
If you are interested in Birds that can be found around Long Island - check out this book by John Turner: Exploring the Other Island: A seasonal guide to nature on Long Island
