On Tue, 5 Aug 1997 Nettebini at aol.com wrote:

>
> A co-worker of mine was camping near Spirit Lake in Idaho last week. He said
> he said what looked like hawks or falcons (based on their short necks and
> squarish-shaped bodies) diving from high in the sky into the lake. He said
> these birds would stay submerged for up to 12 seconds at a time. I had no
> idea what they might be? Can somebody help?

Annette--

hmm-mmmmmm... if it wasn't an osprey (but they're so large it's
difficult to mis-ID them)...I'd wonder if it was a BOP.
there are a number of birds that feed at the surface, skim the
surface, but not many non-duck types, that stay down for 12 seconds
at a time..and most of those birds are so heavy they wouldn't
be making continual *drops* out of the sky as altitude's expensive
and strenuously attained for them.. Hmmmm-mmmmm..

We'd probably rule out *the usual suspects*, so this is a
really interesting sighting.

Tom