Birder’s Notebook by Bob Andrini: Birding is all about ‘being in the right place at the right time’. We were at a local marsh this week when a flock of greater white-fronted geese appeared (27 of them). They do pass through our area, but we do not always see them.
The scientific name for the greater white-fronted goose is Anser albifrons: Anser is Latin for goose, albifrons is Latin for ‘white forehead’ (you can see where it gets its name from these photos).
Field marks for these birds include: grey brown overall, orange beak and feet, and white around the bill and on forehead.
They may travel with the Canada goose, but are smaller in size. They are also called the ‘speckle bellies’ due to the mottled coloration on their bellies. The call is different from that of the Canada goose is sort of a high-pitched laugh.
