After spending a couple hours in the morning checking various areas in the area for birds I was out for a walk with Wilson when I got a text from Mary with a photo of a Ross's Goose asking me a question about the bird. I assumed it was the Ross's Goose seen the day before in Longmeadow but she texted back that the bird was at the ever productive campus pond at UMASS so I figured I would make my way over after I finished the walk. As I was finishing the walk I got more messages about the bird and as soon as I could I headed over to the campus pond arriving around 11:30 and immediately saw the bird in among 1000+ Canada Geese (The Ross's Goose becomes the 7th goose species I have had at the campus pond and my 187th species on the UMASS campus). There were quite a few other birders there enjoying the bird too. I got some digiscoped shots and then started scanning through the large flock to see if any Cackling Geese were hiding among the Canada Geese but I found none. I did have a number of Canada Geese with extensive white on their necks and heads and got some photos of them. A bit before noon the Ross's Goose took off with a group of Canada Geese and I was already in my car so I headed south along with the geese. I could see the flock from time to time as I drove and eventually I caught up with the group circling over the area of East Hadley Road and got some photos of the birds in flight. They eventually settled onto some private property and were mostly hidden from view. Ross's Goose is a rare species in the county with my last sighting being February 2018 when I had one along East Hadley Road on the 23rd. That individual stuck around for a few days and survived a serious neck injury through at least the 26th. Prior to the 2018 record I a single in April 2015 and a group of between 5-8 that bounced around the area for almost a week in mid March of 2009. Other recent sightings have included an individual seen in Easthampton in mid March of 2019 (I missed this bird as I was down in the Caribbean at the time. Certainly a rarity and a species that is still on the state review list.
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