Bean Goose

 November 14 2020

A mega rarity Bean Goose (from Asia) had been reported around Sarsfield, specifically at  Nolan Quarry, so we decided to try for it.  But on the way there, we got an RBA from Mike Burrell that the goose had flown north-westward with the Canadas.  So we guessed that it might go to Giroux Ponds, so we detoured there.  We passed a small group of birders at the side of the road on Frank Kenny, but they seemed to be just chatting and not looking in the fields.

There was little activity at the ponds beyond a large flock of male Common Mergansers.

So we decide to push on to Nolan Quarry, in case the Bean Goose had returned.  It was a steep, difficult and dangerous place to bird. We saw a few Canadas and some Buffleheads and Scaups.

As no one else was there, we figured that the Bean Goose was not around.  To be sure, we checked a few surrounding roads and did see one large flock of Geese heading for the quarry.

Thinking we might try later, we decided to head to the fields south of Bourget to look for Snow Geese.  We were just entering the town when we got another RBA from Mike saying that the Bean Goose had returned to Nolan.  So we turned around and headed back.  What a difference this time!  There were many birders scrambling up the steep slopes to set up their scopes.

That was tough on old legs. There were tons of Canada Geese, and it was difficult to get on the Bean Goose.  The other friendly birders helped us locate it very far away on the other side of the quarry.  Most of the time it was sleeping. It has a black and orange bill and orange legs. Luckily, we were able to get a photo of it amongst the crowd of geese. 

After that success, we had to figure out how to safely get back down!

We decided to go for Snow Geese, but none were to be found in all the fields east and south of Bourget. We finally got to St. Isidore and turned on Conc. 20.  On St. Rose Rd, we saw a couple of sizeable flocks of Common Redpolls.  They were very hard to photograph as they flitted constantly in small trees.

Finally, on Conc. 8, we had an American Kestrel on a wire over the road.

We checked Lafleche Rd before heading home, but there was no snow geese as expected.