I visited the Santa Fe Dam Recreation Area in Irwindale, California on February 5, 2022 to find a greater white-fronted goose which I'd seen had been identified there recently, on eBird, a bird I'd not seen before. It was not a particular scenic setting, but I found that goose, and several others, including a snow goose and a Ross's goose, hanging out together, which game me an opportunity to see them in comparison to each other in an up-close setting.
The tule goose, aka tule white-fronted goose, ssp. elgasi, is a very small population and winters in the Sacramento Valley, Suisun Marsh and Napa Marshes in California. The more common Pacific white-fronted goose, ssp. sponsa, or formerly frontalis/gambelli, also winters along the Pacific coast from California to western Mexico. It is distinguished from the other ssp. by its smaller size and range. This is likely the ssp. I saw. I'll save a larger discussion for later if I get a better sighting in a more natural setting with a larger population.
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| Illustration of ssp. albifrons, not the one I saw, from Birds of the World. |
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| Range from Birds of the World. |
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