Wednesday, February 10, 2016

grinning blue goose

The snow goose breeds in the most northern part of Canada, the high Arctic. They can assemble in the many thousands, but they are a rare migrant through Cleveland. And this one accompanied a small flock of Canadian geese, which occasionally harassed him. The Canadian gray is larger than the snow.

The snow goose has two color variations (morphs):  mostly white (with partly black wings), and a darker coloration called 'blue'. The biting surfaces (tomia) of the snow's bill/beak is slightly darker, and is called a 'grin(ning) patch'.

Sunday, before Mass, i snapped fotos on the lakefront along the old Liberty Blvd (now MLK Jr.). You see this fellow with an extended lower leg. That is 'goose stepping', some soldiers march this way in parades.
Further along the boulevard, in front of the Cleveland Art Museum a Ross's goose was amongst other Canadian geese. He was continually chased and picked on. From a distance he looks like a snow goose, but he is smaller and has a shorter bill on a rounder head.

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