ML74699811

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Tags

Habitat

Observation details

A lone bird, on the edge of and in the lakes. This may be a straggler from the flock of 22 Aleutian Cackling Geese that were here a few days ago, before OzFest and Knotfest, but I think it is a new individual. I say this because it is a noticeably small bird, only the size of a mallard, smaller than my recollection of the birds in the previous flock, which were all the same size and clearly larger than a Mallard, more the size of Snow Geese. Despite the small size, I think this is likely an Aleutian, or at least predominantly so. The breast is not particularly dark, though most of my photos are in bright sunlight that makes it look paler than it really is. In shade, the breast is no darker than the sides. It has an indistinct partial white neck collar, and a blackish gular stripe. The bill, though shorter than a Canada's, is clearly longer than the classic triangular minima bill, with a long prominent nail. The head is flattened on top, unlike a typical minima, but this character is likely variable. Roberson lists a character on his online discussion of Cackling Geese in Monterey County, namely the color of the wing coverts: minima with a dark subterminal band subtending the whitish terminal band. This bird has only hints of that character. Based especially on the bill, and supported somewhat by plumage, I think this is likely a small Aleutian. I do not know if leucopareia is known to intergrade with minima, but that is another possibility for this bird due to the small size.

Technical information

Model

Canon PowerShot SX50 HS

ISO

125

Focal length

215 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire, auto

f-stop

f/6.5

Shutter speed

1/200 sec

Dimensions

4000 pixels x 2664 pixels

Original file size

3.44 MB