Birders will travel from far and wide to get their eyes on rare sights. Some traveled as far away as Wisconsin to central Kentucky in the hopes of seeing a rare pink-footed goose that had made its temporary home in the area.
The appearance of a pink-footed goose is that it’s a relatively small and short-necked bird with a dark-brown head and neck, pink legs and a small black bill with a pink band. The animal is usually found in Greenland, Iceland and northwestern Europe but is also an occasional visitor to northeastern North America, hitching rides with Canada geese.
It’s reported that this is the first time the bird has been spotted in Kentucky before November when there was a sighting in Shelby County. The goose disappeared until just before Christmas when it was discovered swimming in a pond at Ramsey Farm in Nicholasville.
On December 20, 2022, birdwatchers from all over the United States were given permission to visit the farm to see the animal. Unfortunately, for them, the goose was nowhere to be seen.
After the wild goose chase, Central Kentucky Audubon Society board member Ronan O’Carra received a call from a fellow member that the goose had been spotted in a small neighborhood near Harrodsburg Road. The birdwatchers made their way to the new location where they took turns looking at the rare goose.
“It’s probably one of the rarest ones we’ve had,” O’Carra said. “Everyone here, if they see something rare, it goes out to all of the birders around and they’ll go out flocking to it and chase after it so they can add it to their state list.”
Source: https://www.kentucky.com/news/know-your-kentucky/article270360767.html