On my walk, I saw this bird, and photographed it:

And when I came home, I could not get any sort of match for its id. So I googled and got the name of Bob Corbett , a birder who lives near Forest Park, too, and here’s what he had to say:

“this is a legendary bird that hangs around the lake near the boat house. It is legendary since it and its off spring have been there for a few years and cause every bird watcher to flip, wondering what in the world it is.

“It turns out the experts who work with the park tells us it is a domestic bird that was turned loose by it’s owner and it not a special breed, but a specially bred bird that doesn’t look like any other.

“I did the same thing. First time I saw it I hurried over to the visitor’s center to talk to the Missouri Conservation agent there to ask about the bird and she had a big laugh with me telling me how many people come to ask.”

What a bird it is…looks like a cross between a goose and a turkey!

And….I have a question for and . I was taught to use a fresh 'open quote' mark at the beginning of every new paragraph, when writing a quote down...do you know if this practice is still followed?