Last summer, 05/07/2009 to be exact, I was at the main flood hide taking pictures of Greylags flying in on a very bright day. Some of these photo's are on my Flickr page. A friend from that site and this, when looking through them later, informed me that one may be a Bean Goose. Teach me to look closer!! If it is a Beanie it would be my first so there is the question. Bean or not Bean? (picture two)
Any and all help welcome here!
John :-)
Hi John
Sorry nobody's replied to your post sooner.
I'm no goose expert, but to me it looks like a pink-footed goose. The pink bill and, er, feet point towards this, rather than bean goose, which has orange legs and orange on a slightly longer bill.
These 'grey' geese can be very tricky to identify - they all look the same to me at first glance!
Keep up the good work!
Katie
Thanks Katie,
The question has had some response on the main forum,
http://www.rspb.org.uk/community/forums/p/13056/94253.aspx#94253
Some debate as you see! If it was not for the size of the bird and bill, I would be with you but I'm still unsure.
Thanks again
There has not been a Bean for about 5 years at Loch Leven!
You can see this species at Slamanan Plateux. Fantastic birds as are Greylag and Pink-feet!