Can anyone identify this goose?

[cyro51]

This pretty thing has attached herself to a particular Greylag on the river and gets very agitated when he (?) wanders too far from her (?) side.

She is about half the size of a greylag, but when they swim by in single file she is right there in the middle, keeping "step" with them.

The closest thing I can find is the white fronted goose : http://images.google.com/imgres?imgu...LR:en%26sa%3DN
Cynthia

[kittypaws]

Hi Cynthia,

Looking in my bird book she looks like a white-fronted goose as she has that little band of white around her beak.If her beak is pink then she is from Russia, if its more orange then she is from Greenland. They do winter in the UK with Russian's wintering in Wales and Southern England, whereas the Greenland birds tend to winter in Ireland and Scotland.

So I think she may be a Russian lady.....

Tania xx

[cyro51]

That's what John thought too, only she hasn't got those bars on her underside and has those white edged feathers. She looks like a cross between a greylag and a white fronted goose.

I wonder what she will do when it is time to go home. I can't see her leaving her greylag behind.

Next time I go down to the river I will try to get a video of her.

Cynthia

[AZWhitefeather]

I can't help with the identity, but she sure is a pretty little bird.

Cindy

[TAWhatley]

I don't know what she is either, but she is gorgeous!

Terry

[george simon]

CYNTHIA, I feel that it is a Lesser Whie-Fronted Goose.It looks like a juvenile that is just getting its adult feathers. The reason that I say its a juvenile is it has white underside in front of its legs,which it will lose as it gets older. .GEORGE

[cyro51]

THank you George, I will watch and wait, but she might migrate.

She is even prettier in real life than in that photo. What I really want to catch on video is how she reacts to her chosen greylag.

Cynthia

[cyro51]

I have just spoken to Joan, who has cared for the birds at River Green for years. She says that she has also tried to identify the pretty goose, but it has not matched anything in her cooks. It has been there over a year. She wonders whether it is an exotic that has escaped or been released there.

Cynthia

[cyro51]

I am becoming more and more convinced that this is a lesser white fronted goose X greylag.

Here is a photo of the strange goose in the forground with a greylag ahead of her.

[Trees Gray]

Wow! That is some good-looking goose. It isn't any LESS gorgious then the other...

[Lady Tarheel]

Cynthia, you might try asking the folks on http://birdforum.net/ which is a really big forum for bird watchers from all over the world. There are some really nice folks on there who could probably identify it right away.

Brad first mentioned this site a year or so ago and I joined, mainly to look at their pictures which are out of this world.

[cyro51]

THanks Maggie, I will try to get clearer photos and ask them!

Cynthia

[Feather]

This little goose has the cutest face.