What's good for the goose...

More geese today in snowy conditions, primarily Tundra Bean Geese and Russian Whitefronted Geese with a couple of Pink Footed geese thrown in.

Pink feet are, after Lesser Whitefronted, the rarest of the grey geese, but reasonably regular. Still always nice to see. Let's take a moment of silence to pity these poor honkers in that weather. I realize they've been dealing with, likely worse, for millenia, but still...

Pink Footed Goose

The variation in both species of Bean Goose, as I said before, is immense and it's always good to take stock of birds in a flock if you can take the time.

Tundra Bean Goose
A pretty standard Tundra Bean, perhaps a bit more colour in the bill than the classic field guide depiction, but the shape is pretty on target, short, deep based and scowly. The neck is short and the forehead high, lending a square shape.

Run Rabbit, Run Rabbit, Run Run Run.

Photo-bombed Tundra Bean Goose. The deep based bill, particularly the broad base to the lower mandible, also often gives a slight double-chinned jowl effect.

Tundra Bean Goose

Tundra Bean Goose. Alert birds, with the neck out-stretched are most likely to cause confusion with Taiga, especially when a bird is of a longer billed variation like this one. Again, note the grimace, jowl, broad based bill and high forehead giving a square headed impression.

Tundra Bean Goose

This too is a Tundra Bean Goose with extreme colour level in the bill, which is simultaneously on the long side. When the colour pattern differs from the norm it can be difficult to assess the bill structure, particularly the breadth of the lower mandible base relative to the upper mandible.

Tundra Bean Goose

Tundra Bean Goose. This bird could cause problems in terms of head shape, which seems to blend more fluidly into a relatively longer bill. The base is still broad, however, and the grimace effect still in play.

Tundra Bean Goose

Tundra Bean Goose. A standard, grimacing bird, with a normal bill pattern.

Tundra Bean Goose

Tundra Bean Goose. Occasionally you come across a Tundra with a "pinched" bill going on, differing from the more typical "dorito" triangle shape. Again, focusing on the bill base, is key. In these cases the higher forehead often becomes more pronounced, with an obvious step effect.

Tundra Bean Goose

Tundra Bean Goose. Another bird that could potentially cause problems. As the bill goes, it's not bad in terms of length, and the lower mandible base is also on the narrower side. The neck is still pretty short though, and the head shape reasonably typical.

Russian White-fronted Goose

Again, for the life of me, I cannot understand how these are not split yet. Tickity Boo!

Despite the weather, I still managed to come across some fresh migrants, namely my first swallow and tree pipit for the year. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Finnish Focus On...Taiga And Tundra Bean Geese

Image
Have been meaning to write a post on Tundra and Taiga Bean Goose identification for a while now. Wildfowl are my guilty pleasure. I've always enjoyed looking for them. The escape issue turns a lot of people off them. Grey geese can turn people off further still. Since moving to Finland, being able to spend long hours in the field watching both types of Bean Goose has been a joy, especially considering how rare they are in Ireland.  Tundra Bean Geese are the far commoner species to occur here, making them the easier to photograph and so a good place to start. Tundra Bean Goose Tundra Bean Goose - careful assessment of structure is most important when identifying bean geese. Whilst there are size differences between the smaller Tundra and larger Taiga, this plays out most obviously in their structure and shape. Both species, rear on, can be extremely difficult to pick apart without the structural clues visible. The head and bill structure are crucial in Bean Goose identification. Thi...
Read more

How To Be A Rarity Finder

Image
A recent statistic popped up in my various social media memories.  To date I've been birding on 4 continents, Europe, Asia, Africa and North America, and found rare birds on each of them. Pretty happy with that. 😎 So thought a post on how to go about finding rarities and importantly, how to BE a rarity finder was worth throwing up. They may sound like the same thing, but I have different views on both. One is methodology. The other is an outlook. Combine the best of both and you will achieve your goals. First up, the Methodology . 1. KNOW YOUR BIRDS This is an obvious one (though people may have different perceptions on what this takes.)  It stands to reason though, that to find a Lesser Yellowlegs as a vagrant, you're going to have to know what a Redshank looks like (in all plumages)...and Greenshank ...and Wood Sandpiper ...and then...just to be really fecking sure... Greater Yellowlegs, Stilt Sandpiper and Marsh Sandpiper too. Lesser Yellowlegs - I've found 6 Lesser...
Read more

Racism and Bigotry in Birding

Image
It's hard to pick up a newspaper these days and not read about something the new moniker "alt-right" are up to. The rise of racism to more mainstream levels is undeniable. Do we, as birders, need to have this discussion though? Do we know it's out there, among us? I'm pretty sure we do. It's tempting to believe the best about yourself, and this extrapolates to ourselves as a group; as birders. It's tempting to believe that the hobby of birding, taking place in nature, with a holistic, interconnected view of nature, would not harbour backwards, ignorant, scumbag neanderthals, that would discriminate on the basis of colour, creed, ethnicity, sex or sexual preference...over the past two years I've learned, sadly, that this temptation would lead you to the wrong conclusion. Birding, like any other microcosm of humanity, has it's share of these regrettable people. When I say over the past two years, I mean, perhaps, I have been just as ...
Read more