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Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Cackling Goose at the Centre Furnace Duck Pond



A Cackling Goose was spotted by Drew Weber today at the Centre Furnace Duck Pond.

I arrived at the Duck Pond early this morning for my usual check to see if anything dropped out of the sky last night. Drew was already present and seemed somewhat animated. I figured he found the Northern Pintail that was rumored to be present. Turns out he found something much better. A Cackling Goose!

There were about 120 or so geese present this morning. Most, including the putative Cackler, were sleeping with their necks curled back and tucked. There was also a considerable amount of fog overhanging the pond, obscuring the view. I spent about 30 minutes observing the goose in question. The goose was noticeably smaller that the other Canada Geese that were present. During that time he lifted his head 3 times, giving me a pretty good look at its stubby bill. That being said, I was not completely satisfied with the view.

I went back after work this afternoon with my spotting scope and digital camera to take some digiscope shots. By this time, the fog had lifted, the lighting was much better, and the geese were all awake and going about their business. I got some really good looks – and pics - of the goose.



Cackling Goose (back) was noticeably smaller than the Canada Geese (fore) - roughly about two-thirds the size. It was only slightly larger than the local Mallards. In addition, it has a short stubby bill. Based on some rough measurement on the photos, the length of the bill was about 50% the length of the head.



The wings were held above the back in a slightly arched position and the primary feathers extend beyond the tail, as shown on the top photo and the photo below.



Based on these observations, I am fairly well convinced it is a Cacking Goose.

If you look up the Cackler in the Sibley Guide, you may be confused. Sibley shows the Cackling Goose with a much smaller bill and a darker breast. However, it should be pointed out that Sibley was published in 2000, when Cackling Goose was considered a sub-species of Canada Goose. In 2004, the Canada Goose was split by the AOU. Although the Sibley Guide shows 6 sub-species of Canada Goose, there were 11. The seven larger sub-species were grouped together as "Canada Goose", and the four smaller sub-species (Cackling, Richardsons, Aleutian & Taverner's) were grouped under the name "Cackling Goose".

Long story short...the Cackling Goose at the Duck Pond is most likely a Richardson's Cackler, rather than a Cackling Cackler.

1 comment:

almostakbl said...

نظيف مكيفات بالرياض

ظلت دائما اجهزه تكييف الهواء هي من اهم العوامل التي تقدم المساعده والعون االي الانسان حيث انها تدعمه علي تحمل تقلبات الجو سواء الحراره العاليه او الحراره المنخفضة ، وان رفاهيه الانسان تعتمد بشكل كبير علي مكيفات الهواء وكل ذلك يعتمد علي حالة مكيف الهواء لديكم حيث انه من الواجب دائما عمل صيانة وتنظيف بشكل مستمر لمكيفات الهوات الهواء فان ادائها يعتمد بشكل كبير علي ذلك حيث انها من الممكن مع عدم صيانتها وتنظيفها بشكل منتظم ان تؤدي الي عطلها ان وانهياراها تماما ، فيما يلي بعض النصائح الهامة حول كيفية الرعاية بمكيف الهواء الخاص بك …
تنظيف مكيفات
- اذا كنت تعيش بمنطقة قريبة بشكل كبير من المناطق الصناعية ، فيجب عليك الاهتمام بشكل كبير بتنظيف المكيفات بشكل مستمر وعلي فترات متقاربة اكثر من اي منطقة سكنيه اخري فيجب عليك دائما الاستعانة بـ تنظيف مكيفات بالرياض
للقيام عملية الصيانة والتنظيف الدورية بالنيابة عنك ، او اذا كانت لديك الخبره الكافية بذلك فمن الممكن عمل الصيانة بنفسك غير ذلك قد تكون حالة المكيف لديك علي المحك لذلم فانت دائما تحتاج الي تنظيف المكيفات بالرياض .
شركة تنظيف مكيفات
- اذا كنت من هواه مقتني الحيوانات الاليفة مثل القطط او الكلاب او غيرها من الحيوانات الاليفة فذلك من اهم الاسباب التي تحتم عليك العناية جيدا بنظافة المكيفات بالرياض بشكل دائم ومستمر فان الفراء الناتج من هذه الحيوانات دائما ما يتحد مع ذرات الغبار والتي تعمل علي انسداد وتضييق فتحات الفلاتر والغاز الخاص بالفريون داخل المكيف مما قد يؤدي مع الوقت الي تلف المكيف فلذلك فان شركة تنظيف المكيفات بالرياض هوا من اهم العوامل الاساسية التي تحافظ دائما علي عمر مكيف الهواء لديكم .