Bird Tracks in the Snow

We awoke to see that a light snow had fallen overnight, and when I stepped outside to pick up our newspaper, I found a delicate, curving line of bird tracks under our feeders.

Canada Geese - Large and Lesser

We braved a cold wind to take a walk around the Superior Drive pond this morning and found it teeming with Canada geese. On closer examination through the binoculars we could also see a number of mallards, a pair of green-winged teals, and a northern pintail, easily identifiable by its white bib.

As we walked, we came to realize that many of the geese were noticeably smaller than the Canada geese we usually see--some seemed not much larger than the mallards, in fact--though otherwise indistinguishable from the other geese. There are several subspecies of Canada goose, varying considerably in size and length of neck and bill. The Cornell Ornithology Lab's All About Birds site notes:

At least 11 subspecies of Canada Goose have been recognized, although only a couple are distinctive. In general, the geese get smaller as you move northward, and darker as you go westward. The four smallest forms are now considered a different species: the Cackling Goose.

David Allan Sibley offers a further guide to distinguishing the various subspecies here. The Giant subspecies is the kind we usually see, having become common in recent years after having once been thought extinct, and is the largest goose in the world, sometimes weighing more than 20 pounds.

Below, in a cropped version of part of the photo shown above, you can see a pretty clear difference between the longer-necked birds at the left and center rear and the smaller-bodied, shorter-necked birds elsewhere in the scene. I don't know which subspecies were in this flock, but it was fascinating to see so many smaller geese, whichever kind they may have been. My resident bird expert says he has not ever been aware of having seen these smaller subspecies before in his 15 years of birdwatching in Minnesota, so although they were "only" Canada geese, this was rather an exciting "spot."

Note, 11/10/2008: I have replaced the original photo below with one that I've marked to more easily point out the contrast between examples of the larger (in blue) and lesser (in red) subspecies.

Without Words

First Hard Frost

The temperature dipped into the 20s yesterday morning and left swaths of frost across the Bald Spot at Carleton College. The cold triggered leaf-drop for many trees that had been holding onto their brilliant foliage for what seemed like longer than usual this fall; golden leaves were falling like rain all around town.

Impressionist Scene

The ruffled reflection of fall leaves provided a colorful backdrop for geese and a pair of mallards on the Cannon River yesterday morning.

A Little Front-Window Birdwatching

Two birdfeeders hang by my front door and are visible through a porthole-shaped window. Chickadees have been frequent visitors, and this weekend we noticed a house finch or two and a whole gang of dark-eyed juncos, the first we've noticed this season. I didn't get any good photos of the juncos this time around but will be on the lookout in the days ahead and will hope for better luck.

Breathtaking Colors

It's been a stunning autumn in Minnesota...

Mallards and Geese Party in the Sun

At the end of the week we had some lovely sunny weather, and it seemed every mallard and Canada goose in the area had chosen the stretch of river between Fourth and Fifth Streets to hold a convention. The photo above shows less than half of the birds on this stretch of the river. There was so much quacking going on (not to mention displaying, like the goose just to the right of the tree trunk near the top of the photo) that I couldn't resist taking a little video to capture it.