Of Zoos and Geese

We took David on an outing to Popcorn Park Zoo today. He had a fine time interacting with the geese and the tamer animals. In particular he became best friends with a deer who thoroughly enjoyed the popcorn that David was feeding it.

I, on the other hand, focused on the native birds. Aside from the House Sparrows, there weren't many until a flock of starlings came by. I was very pleased to get these two pictures. The Junco put in a very brief appearance and I happened to be in the right place at the right time. The Starlings, on the other hand, frustrated me by staying high in the trees presenting only backlit somewhat distant shots (exacerbated by my having taken along only the 300 mm lens). But at least I got an interesting shot.

I was hoping to get some natural shots of the House Sparrows, but they were easily spooked and wouldn't pose for me. Eventually, I found this female who was having fun jumping up and down to the back of a bench. It seemed at one point to include me in its game when it gave me a cheeky look that I was lucky enough to capture.

I had lately been hearing a lot about Cackling Geese, considered a new species since 2004. I hadn't studied the issue closely enough so I didn't realize that we're not likely to see them here in New Jersey. Pam and I spent some considerable time trying to detect subtle differences among the birds when, were there really a Cackling Goose among the Canada Geese, we'd have had no trouble seeing the difference. Here are the pictures: