By Scott Sullivan
Editor
Birders were abuzz about a barnacle goose seen and photographed in a Saugatuck Township field and along the Kalamazoo River last week..
If it can be documented as a wild bird, likely having migrated here from Greenland or northeast Russia, it would be the first ever seen and confirmed in Michigan.
Township resident Brendt Sheridan reported speaking with a flock of birding enthusiasts armed with cameras March 1 trying to capture images of the white-faced, stub-beaked bird. feeding in a field near his home.
“One guy said he’d driven across state from Lake St. Clair to see it,” said Sheridan. “They were excited by the sightings.”
Douglas birder Keith Charak didn’t need to drive as far. “It’s been spotted up and down the river with a flock of Canadians,” he said last Friday.
“I assume he or she is wild” he went on. “No one I know raises them in a private flock or aviary. Barnacle geese tend not to flock together.
“Birders have networks that keep track of vagrants. “As of today, he or she is still around here,” Charak said.
Friday, March 14, 2025
