The Bean Goose is an uncommon winter migrant in the UK. There are two species - the Taiga Bean Goose (anser fabalis fabalis) and the Tundra Bean Goose (anser fabalis rossicus). In Scotland there is a wintering flock of Taiga Bean Geese on Fannyside Moor near Cumbernauld which, in winter 2005/2006, numbered about 240 birds. These birds are notoriously wary and very difficult to approach making photography difficult. The Tundra Bean Goose is very rare in Scotland but in January 2006 a pair of birds were present at Skateraw, Lothian for over a week.
The identification of the two species is quite difficult, especially of a single bird on its own as the differences are quite subtle. It is relatively easier to pick out one rossicus in a flock of fabalis. See the first photo in the gallery which is a composite of a rossicus and a fabalis side by side for comparison.