Bird of the Far South (Pt. II)~

On By cindy knokeIn Birds, Conservation, MY PHOTOGRAPHS, Patagonia, REVERIES, TRAVEL REVIEWS, Wild Life


These birdies give us a good sense of how difficult bird identification is, and why I am sometimes uncertain of my labels. If you find I am wrong with an identification, please don’t hesitate to set me straight. I welcome the help. This is a male Kelp Goose who was photographed at the furthest southern point in Argentina. Kelp Geese are part of the sheldrake family and range from the southern portion of Patagonian Chile to Tierra del Fuego and The Falkland Islands. They have yellow legs and feet.

Here we have a Kelp Goose chick, note the dark legs on the chick, and the yellow legs on the adult.

These are Upland Geese. They are also birds of the far south. They have the same basic coloration as male and female Kelp Geese, but male Upland Geese have black feet and females have yellow feet. I was pretty sure this was a female Upland Goose because she and the male had a chick which you can see below.

The chick had black feet too! Are you confused yet? This is why I would never swear by my identifications….

Here you can’t see the feet at all but this is the same pair that I am betting are Upland Geese. This family was photographed in The Falkland Islands.

In this group shot, the legs are not really cooperating, but my guess is still Upland Geese, males with black legs, and females with yellow. But they could be Ruddy Headed Geese.
Check this out:
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/saving-a-species-by-splitting-it-the-case-of-the-ruddy-headed-goose/
You have to be kinda confused my now, I am. Still I’m going with Upland until someone corrects me….

Here is a Male Upland Goose with Magellanic Penguins in the Falkland Islands. At least we can be sure of the penguins right? Don’t be too sure. They are some other penguins mixed in with this colony, but thankfully this shot is far enough away, and we can’t see well enough to sort this out! Laughing……

These are Patagonian Crested Ducks. They live in the same far southern region and there are about 10,000 estimated breeding pairs of these ducks in existence. This pair was in Ushuaia Argentina.

This guy is a year old Dolphin Gull, whose coloration is entirely different from adults whose photos I posted on my previous post. They are this color when they are young and change as they mature. He was in Tierra del Fuego and is also a bird of the far south.

This cutey is a Grass Wren, known as a Sage Wren in North America. He sings beautifully and was photographed in The Falkland Islands.

And finally we have a Southern Lapwing. This bird is found extensively throughout South America and extends to the very tip of the continent.
The good news is, we aren’t having a test on any of this, so we can just enjoy the beautiful birds, and hope I identified them correctly.
Cheers to you from the many amazing birdies of the far south~

233 thoughts on “Bird of the Far South (Pt. II)~”

  6. A selection of ‘seducktive’ bird of ‘paradise’, my friend. They look like they’re posing for you. I never ‘geese’ it would be possible. (⁎⁍̴̛͂▿⁍̴̛͂⁎)*✲ﾟ*｡⋆♡♡♡♡♡

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  15. Great picks. I love the fluffy little duckling about 4 pics down. When my youngest brother was born, I recall he came home with a little stuffed duckling that looked just like that. He had little suade brown feet and was so soft. I was jealous of the toy. Interesting to know it was very authentic looking 🙂

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    1. Aren’t they just amazing! I had so much fun watching them strut! A female person did throw rocks at them in front of me. She was a tourist. This is why the geese jumped in the water, instead of just continuing their walk of pride, which I was so in love with. Maybe she didn’t like geese. I asked her to stop, but I spoke in Spanish and she didn’t understand me, and I didn’t understand her either. I would have liked to though.

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  21. Wow! Thank you for the name Entok. So amazing across language and culture and geography. I think you are talking about what in my language is called a muscovy duck variant.
    Birds force us to speak a common language, because so many of them fly on so many continents and islands, and no matter how different we may think we are, we are looking at the same birds and having similar feelings.
    Thank you very much for this & be well. 🦆🦆

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  29. I suspect that the chicks actually do have yellow feet, but much like my own children, they just choose to avoid washing their feet despite their parents insistence that they do so. 😉. Gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous photos as always. Once again I have camera and photographic talent envy. You are amazing! 😊 Joanna

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    1. Why didn’t I think of this? It’s Occam’s Razor all over again. Of course the most obvious answer is right. These chicks are just tracking mud all over the place. Poor Mother Goose!

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  33. Cindy, I have always been fascinated by ducks, birds, and anything that flies (except for flies). These are charming photos of ducks and how you have captured them being apart of a unique social structure. Thank you!

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      1. Cindy, Yeah! Another duck lover. My cousin Gary, when we were in elementary school, found a duck with a damaged foot and so we saved it and it became a pet and had babies and we grew them up safe and sound. We also relocated them to a different safer pond and they thrived! That is how I came to love ducks. A very happy ending! Karen 🙂

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        1. How wonderful! To raise ducks is to love them. I raised ducklings again for my children so they would have the experience, and the adults returned home every spring for years. My neighbor would call, “Your ducks are here. They landed in the pool!”

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  40. Gorgeous bird images! The clarity is so remarkable.
    I appreciate the opportunity of seeing these beautiful birds in this part of the world. Thank you, Cindy!

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    1. Oh yes! Color variations of all sorts within sub-species, ages, genders, micro-climates. It just adds to the complexity and makes identification more fun & challenging.

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  44. You always make me happy. I’m amazed at the beauty and detail of your incredible photographs. You are such a gift and I’m so grateful to you for all the lovely things you bring to my life.

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    1. You make me happy my sweet friend! We are very lucky to have found such kindred spirits. We never would have, if it weren’t for blogging. Hugs to you! <3 <3

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  46. Cindy, you could have called these birdies anything, and I’d have trusted you! I know little about birdies from other lands, but I can assure you these are beauties. The detail is amazing. You must use a telephoto lens of some sort, right?

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    1. Thank you my very kind friend and I agree with you, a bird is a bird! And yes, I use an adjustable telephoto lens which lets me get more detail. Cheers to you Debbie~

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  50. This whole bird series has been fantastic, Cindy. Thanks for sharing these amazing photos with us, and giving us your best guess as to identity. You’re probably very close, if not right on with the I.D.s,

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  51. Once again – sharp interesting photos and commentary. Looks like the Sothern Lapwing has a problem with getting a properly colour-cordinated outfit – just used what was available in the closet.That Grass Wren is a little cutey and my favourite shot would be the pair of Upland Geese (photo#3) Very nice Cindy!

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  52. I use to take a lot of wildlife pictures when we lived on a lake and had 70 acres of woods, wetlands, fields and water. I always would look through my many reference books (retired librarian), especially the Michigan ones to try and identify accurately. Birds/animals go through different stages and their looks change as well as female/or male. Fun – I know you’re doing the best you can.

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    1. Wouldn’t that be wonderful if we could reach out and touch subjects in photos. It would be like the holodeck in The USS Enterprise. I’ve always wanted a holodeck!

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  57. Janet Gogerty

    Lapwing definitely painted; how strange to have parrot colour shoulders that don’t go with the rest!

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  59. I love your gorgeous photographs, Cindy, whether or not your identifications are correct. I enjoy traveling along vicariously to places I might never see in person ❤

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  61. Pingback: Birds of the Far South (Pt. II)~ — Cindy Knoke – Vietnam Travel & Trade Portal

  62. Awe inspiring, phantasmagorical & beyond. Cindy, I don’t know one bird from another, but I am more educated than ever. I am also more in love with birds than ever! THANK YOU!!!!

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  63. I am glad that this is not class to identify birds. I would not be able to identify birds. I guess I can only remember black feet for male and yellow feet for female. If you asked do I enjoy the post and these cute birds. Absolutely!

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  64. What a stunning series of bird shots and I’m like you and have to guess at some of the identification.

    Like you I find the chicks not necessarily indicative of their eventual adult appearance and identity.

    (All the Australian Wood Duck ducklings I’ve seen have the stripe above and below the eye indicating females as adults. I’ve never seen a duckling that has the male head colour. Do they change colour and feather pattern as they grow OR, out of the dozens and dozens I’ve seen, including 14 chicks in the one family, all REALLY been females).

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        1. Unfortunately we are not making it to Oz this year. I am hugely disappointed. Something came up with a family member requiring a shorter trip. We will go as far as The Cooks and turn back. Next year it is on the books, so it is a delay not a cancellation. I am terribly disappointed!

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          1. Sorry we will not have a meeting this year Cindy, but will look forward to next year now and remember we have accommodation in our granny flat if you would like a few days stay in this area.

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  68. Tolle Aufnahmen Cindy. Hast Du sie in freier Wildbahn oder in einem Reservat fotografiert? Ich weiss, wie schwierig die Ornithologie ist, habe ich doch jahrelang die Vogel-Bestimmung von Singvögeln geübt.

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    1. Ich habe alles in freier Wildbahn an der Südspitze Südamerikas fotografiert. Und ja, Vogelidentifikation ist eine sehr lustige Herausforderung. Ich hoffe, es geht dir gut, mein lieber Freund.

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  74. Great pictures as always, Cindy! How are you liking your new camera? It has great resolution, and great aperture for you to capture bird images with short exposures. This plus your eye for composition makes your blog one of the best! Not to mention your adventurous spirit!

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    1. Our community of bloggers is so miraculous. I feel so blessed to be part of this kind, creative and supportive community, and you are our pastor! It doesn’t get better than this my friend. Thank you & cheers too <3

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  76. As always, your photos show whatever is there in exquisite detail.  The feathers on the upland goose chick were a revelation: some things are even scruffier than the whiskers of my beard.

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    1. Laughing…..that little duckling has to survive the harsh weather and water temps of the far south, so he earns his scraggly feathers, as I am sure you earned your whiskers!

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  77. Beautiful photos and no way could I identify all these birds… so you can call them what you want and I wouldn’t know the difference… names aren’t important, I love looking at them!

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  79. WOW! Such great pictures and captions, Cindy…like always <3 There are so many differences and look-a-likes that we found the solution and just call them birdie, ducky, goose or just love ones 😉 Pawkisses for a wonderful day 🙂 <3

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  84. I am always wishing to pick baby chicks, ducklings and goslings up by my nose and nuzzle them, Cindy. They are so precious and adorable! 😘 xo 💐
    Happy Spring as well as Happy Easter! 🐇🐣

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  85. Good for us that we only have the joy of enjoying these beauties without the task of identifying them. Many species do look so similar that only experts can make a proper identification.

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          1. Lol..so far she just watches like a hawk..she does bring me gofers and lizards daily alive..shes not a killer she brings them.proudly alive..shes so proud it’s crazy..I take her picture as she poses with her prize and then they have to go back..lol no birds yet but shes sure a bird watcher…

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  87. Such lovely geese. You must be an incredibly happy person, travelling around and seeing all these wonderful birds. I adore geese. Every year, when they arrive on the south coast of the UK from Scandinavia for the winter and fly over my house several times a day in wonderful configurations and honking at the top of their voices, I am in awe of them.

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  90. Hey Cindy– I applaud your identification efforts! Did you have a Bird Guide of South America to see you through?? Your photos are really stunning! They should be used in a bird identifcation guide– so clear and detailed! thanks!

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    1. I had a bird guide, both times, in Africa, but since this was my third time in this region, I didn’t bring one. I did however rely on the internet rather extensively as there were some real stumpers this time!

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