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Goose help please!!!! (1 Viewer)

Binocularface

Binocularface

You've all got one...............!
Hi

I observed these two Geese on the edge of the Wampool in NW Cumbria a couple of weeks ago. The birds were quite distant and in a bit of a heat haze, hence the very very very poor quality of the images.

I think I know what they are (though I talked myself out of it at the time!), but will not state this initially as I would rather hear members opinions first!!

I hope some one can help me with this!

Regards
Tristan
 

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Looks bit swan necked like Taiga to me and I don't think bill colour is regarded as that important in bean id anymore. Far better to see it in the field though I'd say.
 
I'll hazard a guess at hybrid Pinkfoot x fabalis Bean. Pic #2 in particular shows pink legs & bill band, and a silvery tone to the mantle, all Pinkfoot characters, but the bill is also long like a fabalis Bean's, and the head & neck are dark.

Michael
 
Michael,

Bill and leg colour can be tricky in the field, let alone from photos which the taker acknowledges are far from ideal. I think you would need far better pictures to consider such a hybrid.

Stephen.
 
Hi Michael,
I see what you mean, but I can not exclude that this is just tricks of the light. Therefore, I am going to stick with probable Bean Goose.

Joern
 
Hi

Thanks to everyone for there interesting responses to my query.


When I first saw the birds I was adamant they (or at least sure one of them
was) were Bean Geese. The head/bill/neck structure and neck colouration was
certainly good for fabilis as was the strong white covert lines. The distance was great and visibility was not
very good and colour rendition was probably not accurate. The legs appeared
to be orange (though I have seen an 'orange legged' Pinkfoot in Norfolk).
The grey-brown wash to the mantle was not evident in the field.

After watching the birds in the field for some time I 'wrote them off' as
pinks (though I was still not 100% certain). I did not bother to look at the
images until recently, and now I am questioning whether I was to hasty to
dismiss Beans!

I have a couple of responses privatly two of these are fairly sure that they are Pinkfeet and one relatively sure of fabilis Bean.

It is certainly not clean cut, I am still confused!

Regards
Tristan
 
Michael Frankis said:
I'll hazard a guess at hybrid Pinkfoot x fabalis Bean. Pic #2 in particular shows pink legs & bill band, and a silvery tone to the mantle, all Pinkfoot characters, but the bill is also long like a fabalis Bean's, and the head & neck are dark.

Michael
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Hope that helps, Tom.
 
Hi

I've just had feedback from someone who had managed to blow the images up. There evaluation is that the bird is definatley a Pinkfooted Goose due to the the amount of white in the tail, the grey in the upperparts, the head shape and bare-part coloration.

The amount of white in the tail would be the best feature to go on I guess, as structure is generally difficult to assess from images.

I guess the moral of this story is 'If you see a distant 'Grey Goose' Ignore it'!!!;)

Regards
Tristan
 
I don't think there is any Pink-feet in there at all. I thought the colouration of the bare parts in pic 2 was orange but it is tricky from still photos and with the light conditions. However, the bill structure is far too big for this species and therefore I would have to go for pure Bean Goose. As for the sub species, with the amount of colouration on the bill, and its size, I would tend towards the nominate race fabalis

Can you check any bird listings to see if there have been other sightings of geese in the area you saw them. Not that this is fail safe but it could give you further indications as to the id.
 
I think the moral of the story is that someone needs to have a serious look at Pinkfeet/Bean taxonomy, as I am failing to grasp just exactly what any of them actually look like anymore.

I keep on seeing pics of things labelled as one thing that look like the other.

I reckon the best way of IDing them in Britain is:
Cantley RSPB & Slamannan - Taiga Bean.
Martin Mere & Holkham - Pinkfeet.
Anywhere else - Tundra Bean.

And as for them runt Canada Geese......
 
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