Thousands of canadian Geese

[John]

Hi Mandy

First of all may I extend a very warm welcome to WAB.

The simple answer is that geese do hybridise but I am wondering if you are looking at a Greylag Goose and have got the size wrong as Canada Geese are the largest of the geese here in Britain. A Greylag at its largest size is only the same size as a Canada at its smallest size. Below is a photo of one I took a few years ago. Did it look like this one.


The other type is Bean Geese which are a tad smaller than a Greylag. They come in two types. Tundra (Anser fabalis rossicus). Below are a couple of photos I have taken of both species of Bean Geese.


and Taiga (Anser fabalis)


All other geese (apart from bar-headed which it wouldn't be), would be a lot smaller.

Hope that helps.

John

Originally Posted by Mandy-Lou

Hi. I'm new to this forum, but I have a question which has been bugging me.

On the River Lea in Hertfordshire there is a reasonable sized flock of canada geese, some of which are resident all year and some which seem to be winter visitors. One little group is joined by a single, stockier, grey goose with an orangey pink bill. This morning, I saw a goose with the markings of a canada goose, but slightly larger and with an orangey pink bill. What's going on here? Do geese species interbreed? What species is the grey goose I saw? (yeh, I'm a novice, but am interested in what I see).

I have a photo of the "cross" goose which I can post if I remember, or it's of interest.

Cheers

[Mandy-Lou]

Thanks guys.

Yes, I think they grey goose looks like a Greylag. I don't know how long geese live, but it appears as if there is 1 particular Greylag that has decided it wants to live with the Canadian Geese. It is smaller than the Canadians, but has a slightly heavier build. The offspring, appears to be larger than its Canadian counterparts. I'll try to post a couple of pics tonight.

[diapasonbill]

Originally Posted by Mandy-Lou

Thanks guys.

Yes, I think they grey goose looks like a Greylag. I don't know how long geese live, but it appears as if there is 1 particular Greylag that has decided it wants to live with the Canadian Geese. It is smaller than the Canadians, but has a slightly heavier build. The offspring, appears to be larger than its Canadian counterparts. I'll try to post a couple of pics tonight.

Hi Mandy-Lou,
Firstly welcome to WAB. I was interested to hear about your 1 Greylag with a group of Canada Geese (should it be a Gaggle? not very good on collective nouns) - I came across a similar Lone Greylag at Mistley in Essex, he/she was there last quite a lot last autumn, so maybe this is more common than I realised.
Enjoy WAB

Bill.

[aeshna5]

Originally Posted by Mandy-Lou

Hi. I'm new to this forum, but I have a question which has been bugging me.

On the River Lea in Hertfordshire there is a reasonable sized flock of canada geese, some of which are resident all year and some which seem to be winter visitors. One little group is joined by a single, stockier, grey goose with an orangey pink bill. This morning, I saw a goose with the markings of a canada goose, but slightly larger and with an orangey pink bill. What's going on here? Do geese species interbreed? What species is the grey goose I saw? (yeh, I'm a novice, but am interested in what I see).

I have a photo of the "cross" goose which I can post if I remember, or it's of interest.

Cheers

Mandy, there's often Greylag around the Goose Field, near Fisher's Green on River Lea + there's often a small number of feral Barnacles there too! Occasionally wild Whitefronts join the other geese here.

Canada x Greylag hybrids are commonly encountered in the London area, sometimes in the absence of of one parent.

In recent years I've noticed some interesting behaviour regarding the feral geese in parts of London. Canadas are found throughout the year on all suitable waterbodies, but the Greylag are more seasonal. The central parks such as Hyde, Kensington Gardens, St.James hold several hundred Greylag, but in the spring quite a few birds then disperse out to find other breeding sites + once the young can fly then disappear from these sites back to the central parks. So places such as Kew Gardens will get up to 10 pairs of Greylag during the spring, but I never see them there in the winter.

[Mandy-Lou]

That's my hybrid goose.

There are other Greylags a little further up the river, but they seem to be seasonal. The lone one is there all year.

[Paul mabbott]

Really impressive pictures.
Just one of those niggling comments that some of us make about grammar &c .... Why "canadian Geese"? Surely 'Canadian geese'?

Originally Posted by weathergirl

Saw these this morning coming over for 20 mins! Loads of them!

[Jennywrenny]

Originally Posted by Paul mabbott

Really impressive pictures.
Just one of those niggling comments that some of us make about grammar &c .... Why "canadian Geese"? Surely 'Canadian geese'?

You're as bad as me for spotting things like that! The one that's getting to me lately is when someone puts "your" when it should be "you're"....

Anyway, did anyone see those flying over today? I'm not sure whether they were the same ones but about 200 in all flying westwards. We are in North Anston and my dad (Nettle Runner) also saw them from Dinnington (the next village).

[Gandalf]

Whatever they were, excellent series of images, beautiful to see first-hand.

Gandalf: per digitus ad astra