St. James's Park: Ross's Goose

Cuter micro-goose in large ("L").

I've blipped these geese before, calling them snow geese; it turns out that they're Ross's geese which are a smaller species in the same genus. Their markings (in white phase) are just like snow geese (being white all over except for their black primary flight feather), but Ross's geese are a lot smaller than snow geese and have stubbier beaks; the "blue phase" is also much rarer than in snow geese.

Anyway, they are totally adorable; there are four at St. James's Park and they potter around together (their wings are clipped) as a gaggle of cute micro-geese. I was at the park first thing this morning filming for my bird project; I got very cold indeed, but seeing these warmed me up as I was leaving the park.

p.s. I converted to mono in Nik's Silver Efex Pro, and found it slightly comical with just its pink extremities still coloured...
p.p.s. I'd intended to blip the Goosles, but visited them twice today and found them just snoozing on the island both times; perhaps they've been unsettled by the vast increase in people and noise associated with the SW4 festival...