Geese ID please (bad quality pic)

[BirdPics]

I saw these birds yesterday and I have no idea what they are, sorry for the bad quality, they were miles away and it's a MAJOR crop. Help please!

[Neil Rigby]

I'm no expert of on geese, but if I had to hazard a guess I'd say Shelduck.

It's the white patches which draw me to that conclusion with the hint of a darker head.

[clydebirder]

They look like Barnacle Geese, where was the picture taken?

cheers, John

[Dave Appleton]

Tough call on this image! Several birds appear to have pale patches near the bend of the wing at the front, but as the right hand two appear to have pale necks, which doesn't fit any species, this could be an artefact of the photo. If the pale on the wings is real though then that would fit Greylag Goose. With them turned away from the camera we can't even get a good feel of the jizz which would help when there's so little plumage to go on! My gut feeling is they're longer-winged and longer necked than Barnacle Geese, but I'm far from sure. Greylag Goose also has a relatively pale neck so is perhaps more likely to give rise to the pale-necked impression you get with the right hand birds. I think Shelducks would show more white - the forewing (mainly inside the bend of the wing) is pure white and contrasts sharply with the rest of the wing, and most of the body is white - I think we'd see at list a hint of that if they'd been Shelducks.

[BirdPics]

I haven't seen many types of Geese myself so it's hard for me to even make a guess. The photo was taken in Essex, where a variety of species have been seen recently: Tundra bean, Whitefront, Barnacle and Pinkfeet geese. I have to say the white necks that the two birds on the right show is unusual to me too but maybe you're right in that its an artefact of the photo.

This is the original photo which shows just how big the crop is lol.

[Maggie28]

Originally Posted by clydebirder

They look like Barnacle Geese, where was the picture taken?

cheers, John

I was thinking that too with the white at the neck and dark heads.

[PeterB]

Can I add Canada to the mix, dark head, light bit on the neck, and what does it for me is evidence of a white rump. I know Barnacle have white rumps too, the the head neck colour if the wrong way round. I'd rule out Shelduck as the body if too dark. Of course all this is rubbish if Winter Plumage comes into play.