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Late this morning I watched as groups of Canada Geese began to accumulate in the pasture fields on the S side of College Road in Windsor, just past Kings-Edgehill School and more or less opposite the Manning retirement home. One group that arrived from the N contained a (probably Greater) Snow Goose and was likely part of the flock that has been reported from near the Manning Farm Market along Falmouth Dyke Road, just across the Avon River to the north. When I put my scope on the flock, one bird jumped out immediately. It was clearly a European gray goose, but a large one, about the average size of the Canadas. It showed a chocolate brown head and neck, grading into a paler brownish body with no sign of a silvery tint and was lightly barred below from upper breast to lower belly (and possibly to the vent). The bill had a dark tip and a dark base, setting off an orange region in mid-bill, and was very deep at the base, and relatively long, giving the head a long profile. The legs and feet were orange. When the bird stretched its wings, I could see no sign of lighter coverts, on the contrary, the coverts and mantle appeared to be pretty much the same colour. The tail was broadly white tipped. I watched this bird for a couple of hours, then was joined by Dave Currie and we checked out all its field marks again in various light intensities, and attempted some digiscoped pictures, which were not very successful. We saw enough to conclude (with some trepidation) that this is a Bean Goose, probably referable to the newly-separated species Tundra Bean-Goose. To see images of a very similar bird, see the first frames of www.naturalbornbirder/gallery/bean_goose.php. The most likely confusion species are immature Greater White-fronted Goose and Pink- footed Goose, particularly the latter. In my opinion, based on a lot of critical examination, Pink-foot can be excluded by the size of the bird, the size and pattern of the bill, the head shape, the absence of gray on the body, the absence of contrasting upper wing coverts, and especially the leg colour. But discriminating gray geese is tough at the best of times, and we really need some diagnostic photographs from those of you out there with the meter-long lenses. There are very few reports of Bean Geese outside Alaska, and the the proper identification of one in California last fall is still disputed. This group of geese finds feeding grounds in a farm that does not allow hunting. I urge anyone trying to photograph them to stay outside the roadside fence along College Road. The local residents have a proprietary interest in these birds and are likely to kick up a fuss, not to speak of the disturbance to the birds themselves, if birders attempt a close approach.
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