IDAHO BIRD RECORDS COMMITTEE RARE BIRD REPORT FORM

Rare Bird Report #: 24-B-07

SPECIES: Brant

HOW MANY: 2, a pair

REPORTER: Bill Schiess
777 North 3441 west
Rexburg, ID 83440
(208) 356-7275

REPORTER EMAIL: schiessw@mail.d321.k12.id.us

OTHER OBSERVERS: None - I tried to find the refuge manager to show him, but the flock left before I got him.

DATE REPORT PREPARED: March 21, 2007

DATE SIGHTING OCCURRED: March 15, 2007

LOCALITY OF OBSERVATION: Camas National Wildlife Refuge near Hamer, ID.

HABITAT: grain field planted for migrating waterfowl

CONDITIONS: I was able to watch the pair on the edge of a group of several thousand Snow and Ross's geese. I watched them for about 40 minutes. I did get some pictures of them but they were too far away to get good photos. The evening was calm with a few thin clouds in the area. I watched them from about 7:10 p.m. until 7:50 p.m. The refuge manager estimated about 8,000 geese in the field. I had tried finding the manager to show them to him, but by the time I found him, that flock of geese had flown off. I watched them through 10x50 optics and took pictures with a 300 mm lens

DID YOU TAKE NOTES?: Yes, during the observation

DID YOU CONSULT FIELD GUIDE OR OTHER REFERENCES?: Yes, during the observation

WHAT GUIDE(S) OR REFERENCE(S) DID YOU CONSULT?: Peterson's Western America Birds.

DESCRIPTION: Brant family - anser Bernicla genus. The head was black with a partial white ring around the neck. The breast area was dark brown mostly. They were smaller than the Snow geese, but about the same size as the Ross's that they were migrating with.

BEHAVIOR: I did not see them flying nor did I hear them - the surrounding 8000 snow and Ross's were making so much noise and they were two far away.

HOW AND WHEN DID YOU POSITIVELY IDENTIFY THE BIRD, AND WHAT CLINCHED THE IDENTIFICATION FOR YOU? The dark head without the white cheek patches. They also had the dark brown rather than the gray breast area. The white ring around the neck was only partially around the neck.

HOW DID YOU ELIMINATE SIMILAR SPECIES, AND WHAT WERE THEY? At first I thought they might be Canadas or the blue phase of the snows or Rosses. But they had the full dark head with the white throat patch.

EXPERIENCE WITH THIS SPECIES (AND SIMILAR SPECIES): I have been watching the spring migrations of waterfowl for the last 15 years. This is the first pair of Brants that I have seen in Southeastern Idaho. I have seen them in Utah and in Washington.

GENERAL BIRDING EXPERIENCE: About 15 years. I would rate myself as serious amatuer, but an expert on waterfowl.

WERE PHOTO(S), VIDEO, AND/OR AUDIO OBTAINED BY YOU?: Photo

NOTE FROM SJP -- the original photo submitted was 3000 x 2000 pixels. The top photo below is that photo in its entirety reduced in size to 800 pixels on the longest side. The crop below that is taken from the original -- and that crop is then reduced to 800 pixels on the longest side. The full image is available here (3.3 MB) if you want it.