Lesser White-fronted Goose Anser erythropus
Lesser White-fronted Geese have seriously declined in Europe and although wild vagrants have appeared in the UK in the past it is not clear whether any of the recent records certainly relate to wild birds. However they are popular birds in wildfowl collections and escaped birds are often encountered in the wild, usually among feral geese.
A high proportion of captive Lesser White-fronts have been shown to be impure, with evidence of past hybridisation with White-fronted Goose. This explains why many individuals in captivity and in feral situations show anomolies such as the white forehead blaze not extending far enough back above the eye. A project to reintroduce this species in Scandinavia was halted when it was discovered that many of the captive-origin birds that had been released were not pure. A feral population now exists there, but I'm not clear if that's because they re-started the project using pure stock or if they all originate from the original tainted stock. It is very possible, if not likely, that some of the recent birds in the UK that have arrived with wild geese (e.g. Taiga Bean Geese in the Yare Valley) originated from this feral population rather than a truly wild population.
The first set of photos below show one such bird among the Taiga Bean Geese. The remainder are either birds in captivity or feral - some of these show anomalous head patterns to a lesser or greater extent and are therefore probably not pure (but this is not always easy to be certain about as immature birds have less white on the face).
%20L.JPG "Lesser White-fronted Goose, Buckenham, 2-Jan-12") |
%20L.JPG "Lesser White-fronted Goose, Buckenham, 2-Jan-12") |
%20L.JPG "Lesser White-fronted Goose, Buckenham, 2-Jan-12") |
%20L.JPG "Lesser White-fronted Goose, Buckenham, 2-Jan-12") |
%20L.JPG "Lesser White-fronted Goose, Buckenham, 2-Jan-12") |
%20L.JPG "Lesser White-fronted Goose, Buckenham, 2-Jan-12") |
%20L.JPG "Lesser White-fronted Goose, Buckenham, 2-Jan-12") |
%20L.JPG "Lesser White-fronted Goose, Buckenham, 2-Jan-12") |
%20L.JPG "Lesser White-fronted Goose, Buckenham, 2-Jan-12") |
%20L.JPG "Lesser White-fronted Goose, Buckenham, 2-Jan-12") |
%20L.JPG "Lesser White-fronted Goose, Buckenham, 2-Jan-12") |
%20L.JPG "Lesser White-fronted Goose, Buckenham, 2-Jan-12") |
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Lesser White-fronted Goose (with Taiga Bean Geese), Buckenham (Norfolk, UK), 2nd January 2012
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%20L.JPG "Lesser White-fronted Goose, Burnham Norton, 29-Apr-11") |
%20L.JPG "Lesser White-fronted Goose, Burnham Norton, 29-Apr-11") |
%20L.JPG "Lesser White-fronted Goose, Burnham Norton, 29-Apr-11") |
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%20L.JPG "Lesser White-fronted Goose, Burnham Norton, 29-Apr-11") |
%20L.JPG "Lesser White-fronted Goose, Burnham Norton, 29-Apr-11") |
%20L.JPG "Lesser White-fronted Goose, Burnham Norton, 29-Apr-11") |
%20L.JPG "Lesser White-fronted Goose, Burnham Norton, 29-Apr-11") |
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presumed escaped Lesser White-fronted Goose (with Greylag and Canada Geese), Burnham Norton (Norfolk, UK), 29th April 2011 - the white blaze on this bird's forehead is just a little shorter than I'd ideally like to see on a pure Lesser White-front but I'm not completely sure if it's within the range of variation or not
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%20L.JPG "Lesser White-fronted Goose, Raynham Lake, 2-Apr-12") |
%20L.JPG "Lesser White-fronted Goose, Raynham Lake, 2-Apr-12") |
%20L.JPG "Lesser White-fronted Goose, Raynham Lake, 2-Apr-12") |
%20L.JPG "Lesser White-fronted Goose, Raynham Lake, 2-Apr-12") |
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presumed escaped Lesser White-fronted Goose, Raynham Lake (Norfolk, UK), 2nd April 2012
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%20L.JPG "Lesser White-fronted Goose, Holkham, 28-Oct-07") |
%20L.JPG "Lesser White-fronted Goose, Holkham, 28-Oct-07") |
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presumed escaped Lesser White-fronted Goose (with Mallard), Holkham (Norfolk, UK), 28th October 2007
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%20L.JPG "Lesser White-fronted Goose, Blakeney Collection, 11-May-06") |
%20L.JPG "Lesser White-fronted Goose, Blakeney Collection, 11-May-06") |
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captive Lesser White-fronted Geese, Blakeney Collection (Norfolk, UK), 11th May 2006 - the bird at the rear appears pure but the one at the front has too little white on the forehead and presumably has some White-fronted Goose genes
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%20L.JPG "Lesser White-fronted Goose, Blakeney Collection, 18-Jan-04") |
%20L.JPG "Lesser White-fronted Goose, Blakeney Collection, 18-Jan-04") |
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captive Lesser White-fronted Goose, Blakeney Collection (Norfolk, UK), 18th January 2004
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captive Lesser White-fronted Goose, Blakeney Collection (Norfolk, UK), 7th November 2003
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%20T.JPG "White-fronted Goose")
,%20Stanhoe,%2015-Nov-03%20(3)%20T.JPG "Greenland White-fronted Goose")
%20T.JPG "Pink-footed Goose")
%20T.JPG "Taiga Bean Geese")
%20T.JPG "Greylag Geese")