Thursday 20 August 2015

Leybourne again by round pond


I was again trying to age the Canada Geese by the watersports area, but they still all look adult to me! There is an interesting Canadian website http://www.peregrineprints.com/zzzz_Article_WCgeese.htm
with some very good pictures on it, also differentiating between the Feral, Todd's and Cackling Geese. The Sibley Guide is also excellent, http://www.sibleyguides.com/2009/10/ageing-canada-geese/.

The juvenile plumage should be quite distinct, with shorter and narrower feathers, tapering to a rounded tip. The differences should be most marked on the scapulars, tail and underparts. However other sources (in particular the book Wild Geese by Ogilvie) seem less sure that these are reliable features!

However BWP suggests that there is a plumage called "first winter" which is intermediate between the juvenile and adult plumages, and this seems quite sensible to me. BWP also states that there should be a post-juvenile partial moult of the head, body and tail in "early autumn".  

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