Hi Tweeters,

I went to see the mighty MO today, but forgot to bring my binoculars. It
seems that if I had brough them I probably wouldn't have seen anything
though, because that is how it always happens.

Anyway, I need help with the I.D. of some birds I saw.

First, on the ferry, I saw several loons. Most of them I recognized as
Common Loons, but there was one I did not know about. It had a yellow
bill, and it was distinctly upturned. My first thought was Yellow-billed
Loon, but when I looked at the drawing in my field guide I wasn't sure.
The drawings all have birds with varying degrees of yellow, and atleast
slightly upturned bills. The bill was atleast as bright as the Western
Grebes which were nearby, and the bill was all yellow. Any help would be
appreciated because the only Loons that I have seen up until now have all
been Commons, so I don't have experience with the others.

Second, there were a couple of ducks which were about 40 feet away which
were really giving me problems. I was walking to the ship, and I noticed
four strange ducks in with the regular goldeneyes, and grebes. The
females were all cinnamon colored, like the color on the sides of a male
shoveler. I could not see their speculums. The males looked A LOT like
American Widgeon except the did not have the green on the face. Also,
the patch of white on the head wasn't as obvious, and the bills were
blue. I saw the bill color and thought I was hallucinating because they
were not even a pale blue, they were brighter and lighter colored, like a
male ruddy in summer plumage. Any ideas on this one?


I saw both Ancient and Marbled Murrelets, as well as lots of Horned
Grebes.

Thanks in advance for any help.


Michael Dossett
Shoreline, Washington
mpdossett at Juno.com