Hi there, I already sent this mail last sunday, but no one answered !


Last weekend (Dec 10th), I saw a weird Pacific Loon in Britannia Beach,
Howe Sound, 40 km north of Vancouver, just ahead of the car park in front of
the Mining Museum.

The first weird thing about it is that it seems to be still moulting.

The back was already moulted, speckled with lighter zones.
Though the light was not very good, I was able to see:
- the white breast,
- the dark throat (I was unable to see an iridescence there),
- the vertical stripes on the sides of the neck (covering a large part of
the neck, unlike other species of loons).
Unfortunately, I can't remember the colour of the bill.

These characteristics are, I think, enough to tell this bird as a Pacific Loon
(Gavia pacifica).

I didn't mention all the characteristics of the bird, though, for there is
still a lot of fun to come :-)

- the "cheeks" were grayish, rather than almost black in the breeding plumage.
- the crown and the back of the neck were PALE YELLOW on almost half the part
that is normally gray in the breeding plumage ! (or may be it was dirt
white ?). I shall precise that the weather was overcast this day, so it
cannot be an effect of the sun coming from behind the bird.


So I have two questions:
- is it normal to see a Pacific Loon with a breeding plumage on Dec 10th ?

- Does this "decolouring" happen from time to time in the Pacific Loon ?
If this is not the case, the more plausible exlpanation is that this bird
has been marked by bleaching its neck feathers. Is anyone aware of such
markings on some Pacific Loons populations ?

Thanks

--
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A bird in the bush is better than two in the hand.

Serge Le Huitouze School of Computing Science
email: serge at cs.sfu.ca Simon Fraser University
tel: (604) 291-5423 Burnaby, British Columbia
fax: (604) 291-3045 V5A 1S6 Canada