Can anyone identify these birds?

Alun

I was down in Bray harbour this afternoon photographing the swans, and there were these geese there too. I didn't immediately recognise them as being any of the usual wild geese like Canada or Barnacle, but assumed I could find them in my book of birds when I got home. But no sign of anything like them at all. There was a pure white one there too.

So, any twitchers amongst you who know what they are?

Gazza22

In Bray harbour you say!?

Hum very weird, i am almost certain these are called snow geese

Snow geese nest in the arctic region, along the northern tips of Canada, Alaska and Greenland

Well you got a good photo...check out here for more information

Snow Geese

Alun

Yes, they were down near the water's edge, a group of 4 or 5 like those in the photo and a pure white one. Someone I spoke to down there said she'd seen a single one last year, and this year it seems to have brought some friends along.

I'm not sure whether they're snow geese though. All the pictures I've seen of them show them having relatively long necks. These are quite short and stocky and have quite short necks ... I'm sure they'd make good eating

Here's a close up of the mystery creature's head and neck ...

Alun

I've consulted with a friend of mine who's into birds, and he's sure they're hybrids of some sort. Apparently both ducks and geese interbreed freely, so it's not uncommon to find all kinds of weird hybrids. These are probably at least partly domestic in origin, apparently because of the orange feet.

Sigma Force

Very interesting.
Great pics btw really cute geese/ducks/gucks? lol

Alun

Yeah, I'd just been into Dublin on the Dart to buy a new lens for my camera, and was eager to try it out

They're strange looking creatures alright, especially the beaks ... not goose like at all, more like a Dodo or some kind of seabird.

Our man in Havana

Looks like a domestic white goose crossed with a wild Canadian goose to me.

Nala

Bond-007 wrote:

Looks like a domestic white goose crossed with a wild Canadian goose to me.

I would agree with Bond 007 because they are pied. Pied generally doesn't occur in nature because it offers less camoflauge. There are pied blackbirds and deer but they generally don't live very long.

As far as I know, anyway.

boneless

I agree. They appear to be hybrids. Very good photo!!