Greylag Goose x White-fronted Goose Anser anser x Anser albifrons
I found this at dusk when it the light was already too far gone. In the field there wasn't a great deal I could see (in the darkness) that proved it wasn't a Greylag with white round its bill and a little (very little) barring on the belly - the thing that convinced me it wasn't was the shape of the bill - smaller and thinner than the Greylags it was with. The dark rear border to the white round the bill was also very White-fronty but the clincher was when it flew and called - much more like White-front. The pale flank line was very well-defined as on White-front. At the time I never considered it might be a pure White-front - it looked so much like the Greylags it was with - but when I looked at the photos I wondered if I could completely rule out a very poorly-marked White-front. I was pretty certain I could rule that out, but I needed to see it again in daylight!
My next opportunity to see it was a couple of weeks later and I was pleased to find it still there. Smaller than the Greylags, but only marginally so, and it still looked in the field more Greylag than White-front. Additional points indicating Greylag over White-front were the orange (not yellow) orbital ring and the pale forewing. It still seemed ok for a Greylag x White-fronted Goose hybrid.
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presumed Greylag Goose x White-fronted Goose hybrid, Stiffkey Fen (Norfolk, UK), 24th November 2013
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presumed Greylag Goose x White-fronted Goose hybrid, Stiffkey Fen (Norfolk, UK), 9th November 2013
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