Canada Goose with Variant Plumage

2

by Debra Plett from Oakbank CA on 25 Jul 2023

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I think this Canada Goose is what is known as having variant plumage. This is where they have some white on their foreheads, white necks or all dark cheeks. This particular goose had a white ring around its one eye as well as a white patch on the forehead. What drew my attention was the cute way he was scratching his back with his head. The goose stopped scratching to look at me so I snapped a picture of him. He was not disturbed by my presence at all. I continued over to the pond and he followed along behind me. I felt sorry for this particular goose as he had a pretty good limp as well. I decided to take a few pictures of him enjoying the water.

Camera: ILCE-7RM3
Focal: 216 mm
Shutter speed: 0.000625 sec
Aperture: f/ 8

tagged: canada goose birds wildlife oak hammock marsh manitoba animal bird waterfowl nature outdoors pond water land Water Bird Vertebrate Beak Canada_goose Neck Plant Ducks,_geese_and_swans Feather Lake Waterfowl

3 comments

Yves Langlois posted 2023-07-26 2:31am

Good capture of this very special goose. Heather said it all nicely. Personaly I like those encounter with the unusual (witch is part of nature ) and I am glad you have some too. He may not know he is different. Appreciate the story as well.

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hmellon posted 2023-07-25 3:01pm

What a great find and capture Debra. I wonder if this is a hybrid cross. From what I've read Canada Geese mate with a number of other species. He has some really unusual features, especially the ring around the eye. You got a beautiful shot of him surrounded by the colorful tones in the water and a really interesting story. Too bad about his leg though.

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