Ross's Goose - or not

Got an email right after school today saying there was a Ross's Goose - less than 10 blocks from my house!!! Of course, I jumped on my bike and headed down there. And also of course, the bird had left only seconds before I got there...not to return for the rest of the day. I sat around for 2 hours, and biked down the waterfront a bit to try to pick it up, but with no luck. I picked up a few Sault year birds though, with a female Lesser Scaup, Red-winged Blackbirds, Common Grackles, House Sparrows, a somewhat early(?) pair of Northern Shovelers, and 8 Canada Geese - the geese the Ross's was hanging with. Also a lot of the more common species (not that common grackle is rare or anything!) were around. Some bare patches of grass, temps above 0, and later, pouring rain all point to spring! Even if it is a little late (there was almost no snow as of March 25th here last year!), it is most certainly welcome.