Barnacle Goose

From eBird Report:
There are probably three options for this bird. The first is that it is a hybrid. The photos were taken at great distance, and aren't the sharpest, and the color is a bit off from what we were seeing through the scopes. With that said, we didn't see any signs of hybridization. All of the typical Barnacle Goose field marks were present, although the barring on the back doesn't show well in the photos due to the distance. The second option is that it is an escapee. The bird flew well, and wasn't banded. We were able to see the whole of both legs, and neither had any bands. It's hard to tell if it's an escapee, all that can be said is that no obvious signs of captivity were seen. Is anybody missing a goose? The third option is that it's a legitimate bird. Some of the evidence against it being a "true" sighting is that these birds are kept in captivity. Another point is that it is fairly far from where it is normally found. There are some pieces of evidence pointing to a possible good sighting. One is that it's the right time of the year, migration is happening, and geese migrate. Another is that is was hanging out in a field with Canada Geese, they are known to enjoy doing that. Another is that there have been other Barnacle Goose sightings in New Mexico, Texas, Missouri, and according to National Geographic, some in California. It might be extremely hard to say 100% whether this goose is an escapee or a pure wild bird. There are some that might argue it can't be a "true" sighting based solely on it's range map. However, a Barnacle Goose in Utah wouldn't be the furthest a bird has traveled from it's normal migration route. With more and more eBirders out there, more and more rare sightings are being recording, thus adding information to the birding community. Perhaps this is one more example of a lost migrant in a foreign land. **The flock of Canadas this bird was associated with appeared to be a migrant flock. Most local flocks I've seen have a relatively large percentage of banded geese within them (~25%). This particular flock had no federal leg bands or neck collars that I could see, although there is a good number of resident geese that are around this area.