Tuesday

Waterfowl of Floyd Lamb Park

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On 02/06/2011 I made a follow-up visit to Floyd Lamb Park as I felt my stop there last week with the senior group was much too short. In a little over an hour I snapped 375 pictures. About half were of the peacocks, and the other half were of water fowl, mallards, snow geese, Canada geese, etc. After nearly two hours of reviewing when I got home, I whittled this number down to around 150 and I’m still having a hard time reducing this number down to just a few really good ones. Of the more than 150 pictures that I ended up with, I think these shots of the Snow Geese and Greylag goose are my favorites. It was shot on the shore of Tule Springs Lake, the largest of the four lakes at Floyd Lamb Park. Most of the pictures in the first grouping were shot around Tule Springs Lake, the largest of the four lakes. The majority of the second grouping were shot at Mulberry Lake, the second largest lake. Click here to view a slide show of my favorites and email me if you find a favorite that should be singled out for special attention ... Waterfowl of Floyd Lamb Park.

Description: The Snow Goose, also known as the Blue Goose, is a North American species of goose. Its name derives from the typically white plumage. This goose breeds north of the timberline in Greenland, Canada, Alaska, and the northeastern tip of Siberia, and winters in warm parts of North America from southwestern British Columbia through parts of the United States to Mexico. Outside of the nesting season, they usually feed in flocks. In winter, snow geese feed on left-over grain in fields. They migrate in large flocks, often visiting traditional stopover habitats in spectacular numbers. Snow geese often travel and feed alongside white-fronted geese; in contrast, the two tend to avoid travelling and feeding alongside Canada grey geese, who are often heavier birds.


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Description: The Greylag Goose is the largest and bulkiest of the grey Anser geese. It has a rotund, bulky body, a thick and long neck, and a large head and bill. It has pink legs and feet, and an orange bill. It is 30 to 35 inches long with a wing length of 16 to 19 inches. It has a tail 2.4 to 2.7 inches, a bill 2.5 to 2.7 inches long, and a tarsus that measures 2.8 to 3.7 inches. It weighs between 103 to 127 oz. Males are generally larger than females, more so in the eastern subspecies rubirostris. The plumage of the Greylag Goose is greyish-brown, with a darker head and paler belly with variable black spots. Its plumage is patterned by the pale fringes of its feathers. It has a white line bordering its upper flanks. Its coverts are lightly colored, contrasting with its darker flight feathers. Juveniles differ mostly in their lack of a black-speckled belly.

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