Dark goose ID, please

[john.margetts]

Bestbeloved and I were at the new Wildlife Trust reserve at RAF Woodhall today inLincolnshire. It is all a bit new to be very good but there was a flock of greylag geese with one very dark goose among them. It does not seem to be a dark morph of the greylags - its body and head were dark with paler cheeks and a duller beak - certainly not orange as greylags have. These pictures are not very good as I only had my insect lens with me (EF 70-300 mm) and the geese were a fair distance off. I have exaggerated the processing a tad to emphasise the differences. Any help with a name would be much appreciated.

 

[Kodiak Qc]

•


Most of these are Greylag Geese as you observed
but the darker head ones… beats me!

 

[Nawty]

Greylag x Canada hybrid I reckon.

 

[john.margetts]

Thank you, Nawty, that makes sense with the colouring. I hadn't realised that they hybridised.