lesser white fronted goose

denn · #1 (**permalink**) 30-07-2008, 08:15 PM

yesterday i paid a visit to conwy rspb reserve, i was very impressed with the set up there, spotted a great number of species, but the bird of the day just had to be, the lesser white fronted goose or geese in this instant, i only managed a very long distant photo of them so i thought i would share it with you all. denn.

Adam Cheeseman · #2 (**permalink**) 31-07-2008, 04:24 PM

Nice birds, Denn, but in all likelihood they are escapees from a WWT centre or ornamental lake somewhere. It's completelythe wrong time of year for genuine wild ones to turn up.

Cheers,

Adam

denn · #3 (**permalink**) 31-07-2008, 04:57 PM

yes its my thoughts exactly, but i had a lengthy discussion with the manager there and they don't seem to know where they are from, the birds themselves are not ringed and no record of escapes, i put the photo on adam simply for people to get a look at the birds themselves, even though it is far from a quality photo. denn.

aeshna5 · #4 (**permalink**) 31-07-2008, 05:17 PM

I don't think the LH bird is a pure Lesser Whitefront as the white should extend onto the crown, which it clearly doesn't. With the distant image, can't be totally certain, but I suspect hybrid(s).

At Kew a pure Lesser Whitefront regularly bred with a Bar-headed Goose, the resulting progeny looking very much like the former species.