ID Help please

[Sharna Lee]

Hi everyone,
I will be heading off to surgery in a couple of weeks so I've been hammering the ole 40D and XTi getting the fever out so to speak. I came across this little guy at our local park. He was all alone at first and then I found him later huddled up with the geese. I looked on whatbird.com but can't for the life of me find the name of this bird.
Thanks in advance.

Sharna

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h146/ittyboo9358/ApolloPark9-20-2008_6144copy.jpg

[James Prudente]

It appears to be a Ross's Goose. Or possibly a Ross's X Snow hybrid. The Ross's bill has a straight vertical border at the base and the bluish coloration of the bill behind the nares. The Snow has a heavier, longer bill without the bluish area and it also has the obvious black "grin-patch. This bird shows a slight curvature to the vertical base line, and a little more grin patch than I have seen in many Ross's. It does have the rounded head of the Ross's rather than the blocky head of the Snow. If you have other images of the bird from other angles they may aid in a more concrete ID of this individual.

Jim

[Sharna Lee]

Thank you Jim. It's a Ross goose alright. You did awesome.

Sharna