ML310428771

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Observation details

First observed the goose resting in old harvested cotton field in a row amongst foraging/resting Canada Geese. Bird arose and was distinctly smaller than surrounding birds and pink feet were obvious. The bill perplexed me (for some time) since it had a mixture of white at the base with surrounding black transitioning to pink and ending with a black nail area. (Arun Bose was good enough to send me information from the Howell, Lexington, Russell book which discussed and demonstrated the white at the base of the bill for some birds.) The upperwings when opened were distinctly gray on the leading edge/forewing. The overall plumage was a rich brown at the head transitioning to a warm brown/tan on neck, breast. There was a transition to black on the flanks above the pink legs. The tail was white with a swath of dark feathers about mid tail. The bird rested, stretched and fed while I observed it for ~25 minutes until it went over a rise in the field. The bird was never observed in flight. I did not desire to get out of my car so as not to flush the flock in case a few individuals who had been notified could possibly observe the bird. Some photographs of the bird can be found at: https://visitingnature.com/main/december-2020/

Technical information

Dimensions

1927 pixels x 1525 pixels

Original file size

1.74 MB