Late to the party

Well, I missed out on the fact that the American Ornithologist's Union had split the Canada Goose subspecies into two distinct species back in 2004. I knew the Canada Goose (pictured) had several subspecies before, mostly varying in size (smaller to the north) and coloration (darker to the west). Results from genetic analysis revealed that four of the smallest subspecies of the Canada Goose were quite distinct from the larger subspecies and the A.O.U. decided they were sufficiently different to be known as a separate species called the Cackling Goose.

The conundrum this poses for birders is well illustrated in the article The New Goose. I've no idea if I've seen this bird or not; I certainly saw tiny Canada Geese during visits to California in the past but I didn't give them much thought. On my next visit I'll be paying more attention.

Blue-Stemmed Goldenrod

Blue-Stemmed Goldenrod
Originally uploaded by lilysecret42

It's not the greatest photo in the world, I know. Back in the old days, before I carried a digital camera on all my hikes I used to carry several field guides in case I came across a bird/tree/flower/mushroom I didn't know. It made for a very heavy pack. Now I take pictures of the things and identify them later. Sometimes much later. I took this photo last October and have just now got around to looking it up. As best I can tell, this is a Blue-stemmed Goldenrod (Solidago caesia). I found it growing in Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore park (which is a lovely place) and there was a lot of it around at that time of year.

In other news I had my yearly performance evaluation at work today. It was all very positive; there were about a dozen anonymous comments from various co-workers singing my praises and saying how much they like working with me. I'm going to file them away and pull them out on those days when I feeling all blue and unlovable.