Subject: Arctic Loony
Date: Feb 7 10:02:47 2000
From: Andy Stepniewski - steppie at wolfenet.com


Tweeters,

Despite concerted efforts, thus far no definitive photo documentation
exists for the alleged Arctic Loon at Priest Rapids Lake in south-central
Washington. As I submitted the initial report on this bird, I thought it
useful to compile into one post the various observers feedback on my
queries regarding this individual:

I first sent the following e-mail to Steve Mlodinow and Bill Tweit, both
members of the Washington Rare Birds Committee:

Yesterday (1/16/2000), Ellen Quiring and myself observed a distant
"Pacific-type" Loon with the obvious flared white flank patches on Priest
Rapids Lake (actually in the precise spot where I shared with you (Steve)
your 1st Washington Sage Sparrow if I remember correctly). The bird was
viewed from the southwestern shores ~ .8 mile northwest of the dam. It was
out in the middle of the lake south of Goose Island - could have been in
either Yakima
or Grant County. Bird could probably just as easily have been observed from
the much more accessible Grant County shore (from Desert Aire). Our view
was distant, but lighting was backlit, waters perfectly calm. The flared
flank patches were exactly as depicted on pg. 115 in Birding 29. April
1997. Text states and illustrates the fact a Pacific can show some white
at waterline, however, the flared character of this feature was absolutely
unmistakable and visible at a long distance. At the distance we were
viewing this individual, the back and nape (exhibiting a clean cut contrast
with throat) were a dark slaty color to the waterline except for this
obvious "blotch" of flared white pattern.

Is this a tricky feature on Arctics? I'm not in any position to elaborate
further on this individual as it was a distant view. Features such as head
shape, relative size (compared to Pacific), views in flight, etc. were not
made.

Andy Stepniewski
Wapato WA
steppie at wolfenet.com

Bill responded:

Andy,

I've occassionally seen Pacific Loons with fairly conspicous flank patches,
although usually more rounded than flared. Without head pattern and beak
differences, I don't think you have much to go on. However, it sounds
intruiging, and I would definitely work at getting a better view. Let me
know if a few more field marks crop up.

Bill

Steve answers:

Greetings Andy

The white flank patches are HIGHLY suggestive of Arctic Loon, but not
absolutely definitive. This summer Dennis Duffy and I had two loons,
hanging out together, with rather typical Arctic-type flank patches, but
they were a
long way off. Nonetheless, my impression of head shape, bill size, etc was
Pacific, not Arctic. So, we did not put the word out. We went back next
week with Kraig Kemper, Greg Toffic, Steve and Jim and refound the two
birds. They were still hanging out together, but they were much closer and
a couple Pacifics were nearby. The flank patches, particularly on one bird,
looked perfect for Arctic Loon. The head shape, bill size, chinstrap, and
vent strap
were, sadly, all typical for Pacific, not Arctic. I have heard of an
occasional odd Pacific like this in the past.

So, in a long-winded answer to your question- the flank patches are
extremely intriguing and you may well have an Arctic Loon, but other
confirmatory marks are necessary for ID.

Please, keep me informed on this bird. I will be in AZ next weekend, but
will be home the following weekend.

Good Luck and Best Wishes
Steve Mlodinow

On 3 February, Bill Tweit, Bruce LeBar, Ryan Shaw, Scott (?), and myself
spent the entire day birding Priest Rapids Lake (encircling it twice!),
without noting any obvious Arctic Loon, though several Common Loons caused
us to study them further. If I can summarize Bill's impressions of the
day-long effort in a sentence, it was: "Boy, I'm really surprised at the
variability of the Common Loons we've seen today."

Over the past week, a number of observers have claimed definite sightings
of this loon, but skepticism remains, prompting Gene Revelas to ask me 5
February:

Hi Andy,

Curiousier and curiousier. So what's your take on this bird?

I respond:

Gene, you'll notice I've remained 100% un-committed as to the
identification of this loon. The first question that needs to be asked is:
why is this not a Common Loon despite the obvious white flanks at the
waterline? Various structural features (size, head shape, bill posture) do
not rule out Common Loon at the great distances I've observed this loon
(3/4-1+ mile). My queries to both Bill Tweit and Steve Mlodinow beginning
15 January both state the while flank patches are suggestive of Arctic
Loon, a suite of other characters needs to be confirmed before a definite
identification can be made.

Today, Ellen Quiring and I took a canoe out into Priest Rapids Lake after
observing this "white-flanked" loon in the middle of the pool. The idea was
to photograph it at close range. We clearly saw it from shore, but once out
in the water, never saw it again! Beaching on Goose Island, we could see
birders with scopes wildly waving their arms and pointing out in the lake
from the east end of the dam. We looked everywhere, but saw only geese! By
the way, it was not bad canoeing out in the lake, despite a northerly
breeze and light chop. The amazing thing we experienced, and, which made
canoeing a little challenging, were the obvious (and strong and seemingly
erratic) currents which I guess make sense as be were really only in a
slightly widened part of the Columbia; so, it was not like being out on a
real lake.

So... Gene, I simply dunno. Why not let us wait until we have definitive
photos? I believe both Bill and Steve would agree with this approach.

Andy Stepniewski
Wapato Wa
steppie at wolfenet.com


So....photo documentation is sorely needed for this bird! If adequately
documented, it would not only be a Washington first, but, as Bill
mentioned, make Priest Rapids Lake the only inland locale south of
northwestern Alaska where all five North American loons have been recorded.

Andy Stepniewski
Wapato WA
steppie at wolfenet.com