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Originally Posted by morpheus  Just an update on the Ross's goose saga, Today I spoke to the bird expert at the local wildlife trust, after describing the goose we have seen, he contacted the county recorder to report it who then told him that one had been reported in the same location a couple of years back but never confirmed, he also said that it was put on a list somewhere to see if anybody had lost one....nobody had!!! his opinion is thaat as it obviously hasnt been clipped and it doesnt have any rings that it may very well be a wild bird!!!!
The recorder also commented that it was quite impressive that somebody has identified it as it is so rare in this country, soooo thanks for that, we did know it was unusual but had no idea it's so rare! and it's only the fact that we posted it here that we found out exactly what it is.
The Woman at the RSPB (I called them earlier too) also agreed that as it hasnt been clipped and doesnt have a leg ring coupled with nobody reporting it missing it may very well be a wild bird 
so once again, thanks everyone for helping ID it  |
Given the habitat + the fact that it's consorting with farmyard geese makes it look very much like an escaped bird- there are a lot of unringed, unpinioned collection birds out there!
It's not impossible for it to be wild (who would have predicted Long-billed Murrelet? Fortunately they're not kept in collections), but I think it's extremely unlikely. Even if it is ,it won't be accepted by the Rare Bird Panel as they din't accept the Norfolk bird which was with true wild geese in the proper habitat. Nonetheless it's still a good find.
It's still best to let your local recorder have these records as who knows what exotic species will become established next? In the past birders ignored exotics as just escapes + we have scant documentation for colonisation for some of these birds such as Ring-necked Parakeets.