Greater White-fronted Goose

For a couple weeks now I've been trying to track down the reported Greater White-fronted Geese at Laurel Creek in Waterloo without any luck.  After hearing reports from ebird that a bird was spotted near Elora, almost on my route home, I decided to check it out. I'm sure glad I did, because I quickly located this rare goose amongst a large flock of Canada geese, tundra swans, northern pintails, mallards and American black ducks.  I also found a mallard X black duck hybrid.

Again, apologies for the crappy shots, but this way you get to see it almost as poorly as I did!

This bird is the 100th bird species I've seen in Ontario this year.  I'll take that as a good sign.  Last year, the 100th species I saw in the province was a peregrine falcon in Hamilton on April 14th, so I am a few days ahead of my pace last year despite the cold, long winter! I enjoy keeping track of how many species I see each year, a fun game to try to beat my record from previous years.

Greater White-fronted Goose with the pinkish bill.