Cackling Goose, Lake Junaluska, NC, 1/11/20

It was a Saturday afternoon on a rainy day and I was just about to head out to the gym.  That is before I got a text that there was a report of a Cackling Goose at Lake Junaluska.  I checked the EMAS listserve and there was a recent post about the Cackling seen among Canadas along Route 19.  Pretty specific, and very timely.  And it wasn’t raining at least right then.  Should I still go to the gym and chase after the Goose tomorrow, or chase after the bird now?  After just a couple quick seconds of weighing the options I changed my plans and headed to “Lake J” – the gym could wait. 

Soon after I left home I rode through a very heavy rain shower, so I started to question my decision.  But as I got closer to my destination the rain slowed down and the roads were nearly dry when I arrived.  As I neared the pullout at the lake along Route 19 I could see the large flock of geese on the water down below.  Now I needed to find the little one mixed in.  There was another birder already there, but after a brief discussion I found out that he had not yet found the Cackling.  Had it flown away?  Perhaps the ID was wrong?  I started to scan the flock and pretty quickly picked out a sleeping bird that was a likely candidate.  It was quite a bit smaller than the Canada’s, but I obviously couldn’t see the shape and size of the bill and head.

Then in just a couple minutes it woke up – short neck, small bill, steep sloping forehead, rounded head.  It was indeed the Cackling Goose.  Here are a couple of my better phonescoped photos showing nice comparisons with the Canadas.

Just as I was about to leave Lake J it started to rain again – timing couldn’t have been any better.  And speaking of timing, I don’t believe this bird was seen again the next day.  All goes to show that it’s often best to chase after a rarity the day it is first spotted.

My statebird map for Cackling Goose is inserted below – solid shaded states are those where I’ve seen this species; cross-hatched states are those where it is regular but I haven’t seen it yet.  I’ve seen Cackling Goose in a number of eastern and western states where it is considered to be a rarity though still need it in several states particularly in the middle of the country where it’s a regular migrant or wintering species.  

Cackling Goose was #277 for my NC statelist.  And it caps off a nice string of rare geese here in western NC following my first Ross’s and White-fronted Geese in December 2019.  Though I missed the SC Cackling Geese in December.  I didn’t chase after those birds until the day after they were spotted – that will teach me.