I have no idea what this thing is. I tried using an online bird identifier, but I couldn’t find anything with that bulge on the top of it’s beak. The local lake has two of these year round, one larger than the other. Surely someone will identify it for me in the comments.
My story “Groob’s Stupid Grubs,” a story of a goblin’s hopes for his idiot children, is available in Black Gate 15.
I recently finished the first draft of a YA novel called Takedown Notice set in the net-mage universe of my stories “Captain Blood’s B00ty” and “One Click Banishment.” What happens when the Magical Association of Atlantis finally gets the upper hand against the net mages in the spell program copyfight?
That’s a White Chinese — an escapee, obviously.
http://www.bird-friends.com/BirdPage.php?name=White%20Chinese%20Goose