Cackling Goose "Richardson's" subspecies Branta hutchinsii hutchinsii Andrew Haydon Park, Ottawa, Ontario 2 November 2008 The cackling goose was originally considered a subspecies of the Canada goose, but eventually reached specieshood rather recently. Although visually it is very similar to the Canada goose, it is much smaller, approximately mallard-sized as compared to a regular Canada goose. Make special note of the small head and stubby beak. Cackling geese breed in the Arctic, and are more popular on the western half of North America, but during every waterfowl migration cackling geese are spotted mixed with the enormous flocks of Canada geese. This goose, however, would not associate with any other bird, preferring to be on its own despite the multitudes of Canada geese massing on the Ottawa River off-camera.
Wood Duck (female) Aix sponsa Rideau River, Ottawa, Ontario 1 September 2008
Mallard (male) Anas platyrhynchos Stony Swamp Conservation Area (Jack Pine Trail), Ottawa, Ontario 31 August 2008 Similar to the wood duck pictured earlier, this drake mallard is in eclipse plumage. It is not difficult to confuse an eclipse male with a female mallard, but an easy short cut is to look at the beak colour: males have a bright yellow beak, while females maintain an orangish beak with brown splotching.
