One of my birding stops this morning was Veterans Park in Milwaukee. Canada Geese numbers have been increasing there lately. I typically will check them out with my binoculars looking for something different. Today I picked out a Cackling Goose in one of the Canada Geese flocks feeding in the grassy areas. To my thinking, we get a few in migration but that is about it here in Milwaukee. At times it was hard to locate this goose at a distance when most of the heads are down feeding, this bird just did not stand out, at times I thought it left the area, but it did not. The Canada Geese present did not hang with this goose, a lot of the time the Cackling was 10-20 feet from them. It rained continually for the morning, when it was just misting, that was great. A lot of wind off the lake, temps were chilly to start. Images were taken on October 5, 2018.
Cackling Goose, shorter bill, rounder head than the Canada Goose…
Cackling Goose with a piece of grass in its bill…
Cackling Goose in the front, Canada Goose behind, comparison shot…
Both Geese feeding, Cackling on the right…
Cackling Goose on the right…
Getting a drink…
Cackling Goose in the middle…
Canada Goose, longer bill……in the rain…
Walking through puddles…
Walking through puddles…Cackling in the front…
Cackling Goose feeding on the grass…
More feeding…
Moving along in the mud…
Misty back…
Great comparison shots!! Thank you!
The Cackling Goose is no longer a subspecies of Canada Goose and has been given full species status, so if you needed one for your state list, you have it now! Nice to see both species side-by-side. As usual, great work, and thanks for continuing to share your photos.
We’ve been trying to find a Cackling Goose along Lake Superior. Nice photos.
Thank you so much for posting these photos. I love learning new things. Now when I see geese in the park I will try to see if one of them is a cackling goose.
Very nice ID study.
Good Goose Eye. I don’t know if I would of spotted that Cackling Goose right away. Thanks for sharing with us.
Fantastic comparison shot. So helpful! Thank you for sharing!