Unbelievable "white morph" Snow Goose in Slovakia

On Wednesday evening I browsed website, where interesting bird sightings in Slovakia can be found. For the first time ever there was written "Snow Goose - Anser caerulescens". It was found at fishponds near Malacky by a local expert birdwatcher and naturalist Rudo Jureček. Fishponds, only 40km from Bratislava, are used as a roosting site for wintering and migrating Geese, mostly White-fronted, Bean and Greylag. From time to time he use to find in the large flocks some great birds as Red-breasted Goose or Barnacle Goose, but this was simply unbelievable. White morph in Central Europe! Its origin is still uncertain, but it seems to be wild. No rings, or problems with flying. May be the official Slovak bird checklist will need to be recompiled again. I reported it to my colleagues and we drove to the site immediately as it was possible. We found the bird shining in the flock of Bean Geese just after our arrival. As we didn't want to disturb the flock of c4000 geese we observed it from distance of 400m. Pics are worse than documentary, but the amazing life tick is done. To be honest we really didn't care about the immature White-tailed Eagle, that was perching on the tree less than 500m from us. Who would ever say that it is possible to spot Whooper Swan, Tundra Swan, White-billed Diver, Red-breasted Goose and Snow Goose in a perimeter of less then 50km from Bratislava, Slovakia, Central Europe in 23 days.

geese flock, mostly Bean Geese (Anser fabalis)

Snow Goose (Chen caerulescens) "white morph"

Short Stop At Jakubovské rybníky Fishponds

[Friday, April 5, 2012]

We got 2 spare hours of daylight so we decided to visit system of fishponds near Malacky. We hoped that rain will start later but it interrupted us while we were checking empty fishpond for some waders. That short stop brought new species in my 2012 yearlist: Barn Swallow, Osprey, Little Ringed Plover, Green Sandpiper, Common Redshank, Dunlin, Yellow Wagtail, Savi's Warbler.

White-tailed Eagle - Haliaeetus albicilla

List of observed bird species:

Common Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus)
Greylag Goose (Anser anser)
Mute Swan (Cygnus olor)
Gadwall (Anas strepera)
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)
Northern Shoveler (Anas clypeata)
Red-crested Pochard (Netta rufina)
Pochard (Aythya ferina)
Tufted Duck (Aythya fuligula)
Great Crested Grebe (Podiceps cristatus)
Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea)
Osprey (Pandion haliaetus)
White-tailed Eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla)
Marsh Harrier (Circus aeruginosus)
Moorhen (Gallinula chloropus)
Coot (Fulica atra)
Little Ringed Plover (Charadrius dubius)
Common Redshank (Tringa totanus)
Green Sandpiper (Tringa ochropus)
Dunlin (Calidris alpina)
Ruff (Philomachus pugnax)
Feral Pigeon (Columba livia f. domestica)
Hooded Crow (Corvus cornix)
Great Tit (Parus major)
Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica)
Chiffchaff (Phylloscopus collybita)
Savi's Warbler (Locustella luscinioides)
Common Starling (Sturnus vulgaris)
Blackbird (Turdus merula)
Robin (Erithacus rubecula)
Black Redstart (Phoenicurus ochruros)
Tree Sparrow (Passer montanus)
Yellow Wagtail (Motacilla flava)
White Wagtail (Motacilla alba)
Chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs)
Reed Bunting (Emberiza schoeniclus)