Hey tweets, I hope the expected large numbers of birders coming to Bowerman
this weekend will be able to help us settle this question definitively. I
will caution everyone about trying to identify brown and brownish-gray tones
in varying light conditions. Neutral colors like browns and grays can more
easily take on the overtones of ambient light than other more strongly
colored hues. In printer's terms, that's because these tones are made of
equal amounts of all the primary colors. So if the ambient light adds any
color of its own, the neutral tones take it on very readily. This is an
especially important effect in photography.

I would suggest that when you try to separate brown from gray in the wild,
especially if the tones are similar in intensity, that rather than look at
the absolute color, you compare the color to a better-known color. Luckily,
there are plenty of Canada geese near the bean/pink-footed geese at all
times.

When I was looking at the geese on Monday, the lighting was at all times
back-lit, even when the geese were at the sewage ponds. I did manage to get
a short look at the geese at a slightly better angle, with more side
lighting. But even then, the overall angle was backlit. This did not help at
all in determining subtle color differences.

When the geese flew to the airfield corner, they joined the company of many
Canadas, and I watched all the geese for a couple of hours. Whenever I lost
sight of the bean/pink-footed geese, I searched for back color. My eyes were
looking for a brown color similar to the Canada geese, but a bit more
variegated, especially toward the tail. I did not see gray backs at all, and
I think I would have noticed, but then, as I say, the lighting was not
optimal. To me, the back color looked very similar to Canadas' in the same
light.

Two other points: the bills of the visitors did not look especially stubby
to me, not compared to the cacklers I saw, and the necks looked pretty long,
especially as the birds frequently stuck their heads up to look around for
reasons to spook.

As for escapes, that is always an issue with exotic geese. For what it's
worth, our visitors behaved much more wildly than the surrounding Canadas.
They spooked more quickly and often were the only two geese leaving the
scene. The Canadas were spooky too, but not as much. It took me half an hour
to move myself and my scope a hundred yards at the end of the boardwalk
before the walk turns right. I had to move ten steps at a time and then
stop. All the geese kept poking their heads straight up and looking at me.
Several times, I thought the visitors were going to leave - you know how
geese get that poised look, sort of angular look. To me, the visitors
behaved like wild geese, not domesticated. - Connie, Seattle

csidles at isomedia.com