The red-breasted goose is a brightly marked, endangered species of goose in the genus ''Branta'' from Eurasia. It is sometimes separated in ''Rufibrenta'' but appears close enough to the brent goose to make this unnecessary, despite its distinct appearance.
Similar species: Ducks, Geese, Etc.
By Thibaud Aronson
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Uploaded Aug 18, 2018. Captured Feb 15, 2018 14:07 in Waagejot, 1794 Oosterend, Netherlands.
comments (1)
In my opinion, this is hands-down the prettiest European goose. They breed in the arctic and most of them winter along the Black Sea, but every year a few get confused and follow geese of the wrong species, ending up in Western Europe, to the delight of bird-watchers! I knew that these 2 birds were hanging out on Texel, but considering that the island is 25 by 10 km and probably hosts close to a hundred thousand geese, this was the definition of a wild goose chase... I had been on my bike since dawn, and was just about to turn around for lunch, when I spotted one last big flock by the road, and decided to check it out. I got a bit closer, got out my binoculars and started scanning. And almost immediately spotted these two lovelies!
I must have looked very funny to the locals as I got off my bike and crept closer in my stealthiest crouch, stopping every couple of meters to get a slightly better picture. Unfortunately, this was the last one I got, because soon after a big flock of barnacle geese flew over, and my entire flock took off to follow them...
Still, it was a lovely encounter, and even better, I located another red-breasted goose on my own near Groningen a few days later! Posted 7 years ago