Mike Todd discovered this bird in a large flock of mixed geese at Lauderdale Waterfowl Refuge in Lauderdale Co. TN, on Friday the 14th of Dec, 2007. This is one RARE BIRD, with very few verified records in the east, only one in the Atlantic Flyway. The expert birders in California all agree that this is a full fledged adult blue morph Ross's. Even they have very few records in many years of birding where these birds winter in California.
Since it is a bird I've looked for ever since I found my first few Ross's around here years ago, I had to try and was lucky to relocate the bird. I took these poor photos on Dec. 23, 2007 with the wind bouncing me around. There was an immature bird also present that the California birders point out might be an immature blue Ross's. You can view Mike's photos at:
http://www.pbase.com/mctodd/image/90426578