On November 30th, I spent a few hours studying the Geese at
Van Cortlandt Park in the
Bronx where I found a second
Cackling Goose in the flock that was there. Sifting through Geese flock, is something I enjoy doing to better understand the variation in plumage and size. Even though, I no longer lead the walks at VCP, I still make the trip out there to study the Geese on the
Parade Grounds because
I enjoy birding in the Bronx and the Parade Grounds at VCP in my opinion, is one of the more reliable sites for Geese build up early in the season. Despite the activities on the field which could sometimes ruin ones birding, there is a good chance to find a goodie in the Geese flock such as
Greater-white Fronted, Cackling and Barnacle Goose, all of which I have found and documented in the past.
On that day I had some good variation in the Geese flock to look at including a reasonable candidate for
Dusky Canada Goose (canadensis occidentalis) as well as one of those hybrid types which I believe to be
Canada X Pond/Domestic Goose. Some digiscoped photos of the Hybrid Goose are provided for readers to review.
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| Cackling Goose (L) with Canada X Pond/Domestic Goose (R) |
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| Cackling Goose (L) with Canada X Pond/Domestic Goose (R) |
Tags:
Hybrid Goose,
Van Cortlandt Park,
Bronx
2 comments:
Hi Andrew,
Your goose appears to be the one we saw Dec 3.
Fortunately you took great shots. You clearly were able to get vastly closer and had much better views than what Pat and I got.
My impression was the leg color was more reddish/pinkish than the photos show and the white stripe around the upper cheek was more distinct, but these differences surely reflect light conditions.
Wolfgang Demisch
Hi Wolfgang, I thought it might have been but I am glad you confirmed it. Geese flocks can have some interesting birds and I love to document them. Maybe this one will stick around for more views.
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