** Alan Knue wrote -

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This goose is very small, about half the size of the other geese present, just
a bit larger than the wigeon. It had a thin partial whitish neck ring,
thickest in front and absent on the back of the neck. The chest was a medium
to dark reddish brown, and the rest of the plumage was just a shade darker
than the other Canadas it was associating with. I believe this bird is not an
Aleutian (Branta canadensis leucopareia) but a Cackling (B. c. minima).
Leucopareia should be paler grey on the chest without reddish tones and have a
very distinct complete white neck ring. Both minima and eastern hutchinsii can
have complete or partial white neck ring, so caution is warranted when
identifying small Canadas. Whether this is the same bird that was seen on the
18th, I do not know.
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"Cackling" Canda Geese pass through the Vanderhoof area, 100 km west of
Prince George, every spring. Not only are they small - some barely larger than a
big Mallard - but the black on the head and neck is invariably the darkest of any
CAGO race and often has a purple or mauve sheen visible in good light. Have a
look for this.



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Jack Bowling
Prince George, BC
jbowling at direct.ca