Barnacle Goose on Wiki

Spotted this critter amongst the usual flock of Canadas that infest my back yard and pasture. Initially thought it was a mutation, but an image search IDs it as a "Barnacle Goose".

Never seen one before and Wiki says it's normal range is Greenland/Iceland/Scandinavia. Long way from home!

Def a Barnacle Goose...neat to see.

^^^
Agreed, very neat to see. Growing up with a Dad that was an avid bird hunter, both upland and lowland birds, and who loved to hunt geese, this is the first I've heard of or seen a Barnacle Goose.

Can't help wondering what it tastes like.

Seems it is far from its own kind and probably a little bewildered.

Excerpt from the Wiki entry:

Small numbers of feral birds, derived from escapes from zoo collections, also breed in other Northern European countries. Occasionally, a wild bird will appear in the Northeastern United States or Canada, but care must be taken to separate out wild birds from escaped individuals, as barnacle geese are popular waterfowl with collectors.

The ugly duckling among the geese.

I thought for sure that this thread was going-to-be about my Son's latest girlfriend that he brought home for the first time this past weekend.

It's almost exactly what I was thinking when I saw them walking around back there before Sunday dinner.