ML94610721

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Media notes

On my first posting, I simply called all 5 white geese as snow geese. They were at a large distance on the Reservoir. However, I usually use a camera with a telephoto lens to help later differentiate distant birds and to help verify counts when large numbers of birds are present. On review of my photos of the day, albeit tight crops of a larger image, I recognized that two of the geese were different. The two birds had much rounder heads, relatively shorter necks, and distinctly shorter/stubbier bills. The body size differences were harder to distinguish, but the two were distinctly whiter in body color. My photo is a very tight crop of a larger image, so the quality is not great. The bevelling along the tomia and the color at the base of the bill is not clear in my photo, though a strong edit of brightness and contrast does indicate a greyness at the base of the bill. Thus, I am going to submit this as a Ross's Goose rather than a hybrid, knowing that others have reported this species in the area mixed with groups of SNGO.

Technical information

Model

Canon EOS 80D

Lens

EF-S55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS STM

ISO

200

Focal length

250 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire, auto

f-stop

f/6.3

Shutter speed

1/1600 sec

Dimensions

450 pixels x 179 pixels

Original file size

85.91 KB